Bad gifts... we've all had one in our life. The year we see the little blue box from Tiffany's, and we think we're getting something shiny and sparkly... turns out it's a blue box from Gander Mountain and inside is a coin for a year's supply of stink bait.
Thankfully, I haven't had too many bad gifts in my life. Probably because the only relationships I've been in that were serious enough for gifting were few and far between.
I haven't had my mother-in-law give me cancer causing deodorant, but I've had specific gifts ignored. My family (and this included my ex-husband) are classic for asking for specifics. They don't want to miss the mark, so I tell them what I want, and where it can be found.
One year, I asked for two things: a spinning wheel. And a collaspable tactical baton. The spinning wheel you'd have to find online, the baton at any military surplus store.
What I got: jewelry.
Granted, it was handmade hippie-funky jewelry (which I do like, but hardly ever wear because jewelry just gets banged up in my line of work), but jewelry doesn't spin and it doesn't help protect you from jackasses who think just because you're a woman means you can't defend yourself.
The worst gift I've recieved has been the gift of nothing. I used to get cards and small gifts for my ex-husband, during our poorest days, because I wanted him to have *something* to open on his birthday/holiday. I would save up change and trade it out for cash at my job, and I'd hide it in a box of tampons under the bathroom sink.
(Side note: find a new hiding spot)
On the day of gift giving, I'd hand him the card and gift, because to me it was a sign that I cared that I took the time to set aside money and to shop for something that was within budget but meaningful. He'd open it, look at it for a few seconds, then toss it on the table and go about his business. I consider it a sign of my incredible talent of restraint that I didn't beat him to death with the nearest blunt object (can one be beaten to death with a feather pillow?)
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3 comments:
Oh, the gift of nothing! That's what I got on all of my birthdays with the ex.
Unbelievable. He really has no reason to wonder why you left him.
@Celeste- And they always seemed so surprised when we aren't falling over ourselves to thank them for the nothing.
At least when others give the gift of nothing, they acknowledge the day, which means a lot.
@Charlotte- Oh, he wonders, because he is so sure he's The Grand Pooba of whatever that he can't see his own stupidness.
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