Sunday, December 23, 2007

You really shouldn't have

I've been thinking about gifts. I'm willing to devote a lot of time and a decent amount of cash to gifting. I enjoy the challenge of finding just the right thing for someone I care about.

Today I was trying to remember the best gift I've ever received, but I couldn't narrow it down to just one. I'm a lucky woman, and I've received so much in my life. I can, however, easily pinpoint the worst gift I ever received.

I have to preface this by stating that my ex gave me some of the best Christmases of my life. He's a thoughtful, generous guy and no one would ever accuse him of being a Grinch. However, things had gone awry by our last year together, and that last Christmas just wasn't the same.

We had recently bought a house together, and on top of all the closing costs we had fixed the place up, so essentially we had no money left. Our agreement was that we would get each other gifts to put under the tree and open on Christmas morning, for the excitement of it, that were actually things we needed for the house. I think I got him oven mitts that looked like lobster claws. Something like that.

So that brings me to what I found under the tree, wrapped up in Christmas paper, for me, that last Christmas. It was... can you guess? I bet you can't guess.

GARBAGE CANS.

Yes, he got me garbage cans for Christmas.

Definitely the worst gift I ever received.

I mean, sure, we needed them and all, but there were a dozen other things, none of which had anything to do with garbage, and some of which were actually attractive, that could have gone under the tree.

He's not the kind of person who would maliciously, consciously try to hurt my feelings on Christmas morning. But there was a lot of subliminal weirdness going on by that point, and this was a real stand-out moment for questionable symbolism. In a nutshell, that was one messed-up Christmas.

Can anyone top that? What was the worst gift you ever received?

6 comments:

Kell said...

My dad was famous for recycling gifts. If he bought new typewriters for the office, I got one of the old ones for Christmas. Yes, I said typewriter. I had to use a typewriter in college for all my research papers!

BTW, thanks for stopping by my blog!

R.E.H. said...

Garbage cans for Christmas... I can't even come close to that!

For me... worst Christmas gift must be when I got clothes when I was a kid and all I wanted was toys. But, that is something we all have to suffer through, so I'm not expecting any sympathy ;)

You have a Merry Christmas, and hopefully you'll get something better than garbage cans this year!

Tink said...

Chipped angel-head butter spreaders. No lie.

San said...

Worst gift I ever received: I unwrapped a pair of earrings that looked oh-so-familiar. They were from my mother-in-law. I realized I'd given them to her the Christmas before. I liked them or I wouldn't have given them to her and I thought they were "her style." Guess I was mistaken. I felt hurt by the way she chose to return them--not to the store but to the giver. I didn't say anything though. It was Christmas after all.

Jameil said...

well... i got a bath set... i don't wear scented lotions or perfumes... and its vanilla... which is the scent i can't stand most in life (though i love vanilla flavoring in anything and at one point would only eat vanilla ice cream). it also was in a leopard "purse"-like thing. i wish leopard would disappear forever. i got it from someone i really like as a person so i feel bad mentioning it but when i opened it, i immediately thought, geez she doesn't even know me. sigh. i don't know if that's the worst gift ever but its one that was definitely not me.

san... i would've been excited. lol. sorry red! i couldn't resist.

Sparkling Red said...

That's some collection of worst gifts! Looks like I'm not alone. We should start a support group.
;-)