Worst presents.
Horrible presents.
The Professor figured the worst gift she ever gave was a set of socks that her father received from her back in the early 1990s. Lame, we thought, but practical.
As for me, I once gave an ex-girlfriend a Faith No More tape, held in the paws of a cuddly teddy bear (this was a LONGGGGG time ago). Now, this wouldn't necessarily be a horrible gift except for the following points:
• Cuddly teddy bears and abrasive music often don't mix.
• I don't think my Ex liked Faith No More. At all.
• This was at the time when most people were already buying CDs.
I can only assume it collected dust for several years, then got sold at a yard sale.
As for the worst gifts ever received, the Professor claimed she couldn't pinpoint one single item.
I immediately had a response. My worst gift was a t-shirt. A usually innocuous item, this t-shirt was special. A family friend gave it to me when I was about 15-years-old. It was black (a color I rarely wear) and said the following in tight white type across the chest:
DO I LOOK LIKE I GIVE A CRAP?
It was a gift that even the best actor would have had a hard time pulling off after opening. I looked up at the giver and let out a hollow chuckle.
"Thanks," I said (maybe it came out as "Thanks?").
"I saw it at the store and immediately thought of you," the family friend replied.
My stomach dropped. Not only did I get a horrible gift and was struggling to appear excited about it, but I apparently also came across, at the tender age of 15, as someone who would proudly walk around with a t-shirt proclaiming that I knew, without any outside influence, that I appear to not "give a crap" about anything.
I was hurt by the shirt. Was I that cynical? Was I that obnoxious? Did people see me that way?
It sat in a drawer for a month. I then learned where it came from and returned it. The store worker, gladly, let me exchange it even without a receipt.
Any horrible gifts you'd like you share, dear readers?
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3 comments:
I once got a similar shirt, from my mother, that said "I Have No Idea What's Going On". I think I had a similar reaction.
And this was like 4 years ago.
The double whammy of horrible gift AND ego attack is a tough one to handle.
for my wedding - FOR MY WEDDING, it's important to emphasize that - one of our best friends gave my husband and I an autographed copy of a lousy young-adult science fiction book by an author neither of us liked, but who had taught this friend at a summer writing workshop. So, a crappy, cheap (and let's not forget inappropriate) gift that was really just a reminder about his writing workshop which he'd already bored us to tears describing.
i think that was the worst gift ever.
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