What is the most disappointing gift you have ever been given?

Yes, the “gift” of life! Nothing more tragically disappointing!

A close relative I really cared about, and in the past had always given thoughtful presents, arrived from overseas on my birthday. They gave me my birthday present and it was a plastic dancing flower. I was quite shocked. I wasn’t sure why they would think I would want such a thing.

Then later, they pulled out a jewellery box and showed me the beautiful set of jewellery they had bought for my sister’s birthday that would occur in a couple of weeks. I didn’t voice my disappointment. I just said I’m sure she would love it. The person didn’t seem to realise how their action might hurt me. I’m still puzzled by the whole thing.

My ex-BFF was a great person, until when she turned materialistic.

During the last period of our relationship she began to calculate virtually everything. Not even gifts could escape. She would try to give me a gift so that she could get another back from me. She tried to keep the gifts as simple and cheap as possible, but at the same time, when it was my turn to gift her, make sure that she git exactly what she wanted. She was just preying on my appreciation for gifts to get something from me. It’s like she was saying: “Hey, I give you that. It’s simple but meaningful right? So next time give me that something in return OK?”. She also made sure I had to take the gifts by doing things like putting them in front of my doorstep or coming to my place when I least expected.

Most of her gifts during the period were boxes of origami birds. I’m not someone who is disappointed by gifts, far from it, but the circumstances were what disappointed me. I never showed my disappointment though. And when I gave her my gifts, she showed her disappointment! She put on that passive-aggresive face or said things like why the gift was like that. When she received her gifts, it had to be the exact thing she wanted, and usually the thing had much more value than what she gave me in every aspect.

That, and other selfish things she did finally led to our breakup when I realized she was beyong help.

I am really into birds, and absolutely everyone who is even vaguely acquainted with me knows this, so I receive a lot of bird stuff. It is the obvious thing to get me if you don’t know what I really want or whatever. This is fine, some of the bird stuff I’ve gotten is pretty awesome.

My ex (when we were still together), though, got me this necklace that had an owl pendant that was covered in rhinestones and basically looked like the kind of jewelry that is marketed to 12 year old girls at Claire’s. I don’t know if it was just male cluelessness or what, but it was ugly as sin, and it made me feel like he didn’t know me, he was just getting me a random bird thing like everybody else does.

Just for @Mariah

^Too cute!

An aunt bought me this bizarre board game called Conquer Everest, I was maybe 9/10yrs old.
There were so many pieces, such detailed instructions including a cardboard mountain that needed building before you could even start the bloody game.
It was fucking terrible & was binned off immediately, bloody sherpa this & peak that.

Someone (a close relative) gave me a beautiful backgammon set in a fancy case for my birthday. I’m sure it was very expensive and he thought I’d enjoy such a cerebral pursuit. But I don’t play backgammon. I don’t know how to play. And I don’t know anyone who would want to play.
Many years after he passed away I ended up donating the set. Hopefully someone is enjoying it.

Socks.

I have the worst luck in company gift exchanges, White Elephant parties, and Secret Santas. I love to give gifts, and put a lot of time and effort into getting well-planned gifts with the recipient in mind. Alas, not everyone does this, and that person is usually assigned to me.

One year for a company Secret Santa we were supposed to do five days of small gifts that cost less than $5. I got five pieces of sour candy. I hate sour candy. So my little sister had some nice treats from my coworker.

Another company’s White Elephant party there was everything under the tree from Starbucks and Amazon gift cards to gold necklaces to interesting home decor items. I ended up with a gag Mrs. Claus apron with stuffed tits.

And just to drive it home, when I was nine, Easter came around. My brother got a basket filled with bunch of toys, my sister got a basket with bunch of toys, and I got a basket filled with deodorant and an eyelash curler and lip gloss. Because I was “getting to that age”. I was fucking nine. I liked baseball.

What a bunch of ingrates!

There are good gifts and there are bad gifts, but the fact is that these are gifts, presumably given with best wishes in mind.

Sure, I haven’t loved everything I have been given, but that’s not the point at all. The fact is that someone got me something I didn’t have. That’s the key.

“There are good gifts and there are bad gifts, but the fact is that these are gifts, presumably given with best wishes in mind.”

We’re allowed to discuss those bad gifts you refer to, you know. Not necessary to call names.

@luckyguy. I play backgammon! It really is a fun game and easy to learn. But you’ve already passed it on so you will never know.

“The fact is that someone got me something I didn’t have”
Maybe one day that special someone will gift you a sense of perspective, or indeed humour

I really can’t think of a bad gift and if I did get a bad gift in the past, it must have been so bad I have mentally blocked the memory.

But I did get a pretty hilarious gift at our Christmas Party gift exchange here at work….lucky me I got Suzanne Summers Thigh Master. Needless to say I re-gifted it at the next years Christmas Party gift exchange. It made 4 more appearances until one year the workers wife demanded they keep it. Party pooper!

One sock on the third night of Hanukah.

I suspect I will not be the only jelly to have experienced this.

Any gift that shows the person is not really putting much thought into it.

Instead of disappointed, I’ll say there have been some gifts that puzzled me.

Most memorable was a Christmas gift exchange with friends about 30 years ago (yes, that memorable). I received thick-knit nude glitter legwarmers from one friend and a tiny pink babydoll nightgown from his brother. what? what? what? it was the same gift exchange where a friend gave me a rustic handpainted plate that I spent about 20 minutes turning around and around and around trying to figure out what the image on the plate was.

___

Another puzzler was the group gift from my friends on my 40th birthday. There was an announcement that the hosts had asked my friends to go to their basements/attics and find something random to give me. I thought that was beyond fabulous and couldn’t wait to open the giant box on the patio. There were shouts of don’t open that! why? can’t you see what it is ? mmm it’s a box for a gas bbq – I want to see what’s inside. It’s a gas bbq!!!! ohhhhhhh… who missed the memo that I’m not a fan of bbq’s and actually afraid of gas bbq’s? my best friends

My mother in law came back from a trip to Vegas with two blouses that she asked if I liked?
I said that I did not like the dark brown plain one but the yellow bright one was better looking.
Little did I know that she was going to give it to me for my Birthday, but I had mentioned to her that she did not have to give me anything.
My Birthday came and gone and of course because I said NOT to give me anything she did not..THANK My lucky stars for that one!
Anyways Christmas rolled around and low and behold..she gave me the ugly brown blouse anyways! My husband at the time told me to rip it up and use it as a rag!
I gave it away. Rude mother in law , who gave me troubles from the very first day married to her son! After 11 years of this, I divorced him and his family.
Best thing that I ever did! I met better people in the years that followed.

I was supposed to get a gift from my relative which I didn’t eventually..that was disappointing..:(

It was a high school graduation present from the family. I asked for a camera, which had become a passion after taking a photography class. What was received was a gold necklace with an oval charm engraved with the graduation date. I only wore silver. I had no desire to attend the graduation ceremony. They all knew both of these facts.

Dad’s additional gift of a bag full of mismatched, imperfect towels that he picked up at an outlet were more appreciated than that necklace.

You prefer Silver over gold..that’s uncommon.

A grooming kit. With old spice cologne. I didn’t like pouting goop on myself. On second thought it was a good gift I just was 12 at the time.

When we first got to Florida my father was going through something weird. He was sometimes a bit idealistic and impulsive, like myself, but I don’t have seven kids like he did. Instead of resuming his well-paid work in the aerospace industry, he took a job with an old 1940’s noir type as a private detective. That year all of us got a small bag of oranges for Christmas. It freaked me out, but my mom told us to be patient with him. He was quite smart, maybe a genius. The next year he was back in the saddle—we were showered with presents and my big sister even got a ski boat.

I really wanted a Patty Play Pal doll for Chanukah. They were about two feet tall. My mother got me one on the cheap from a man she knew. One leg was shorter than the other and this was before differently abled was the vogue.

Golf balls. I’ve never golfed in my entire life. I’ve never even tried.

But, one of my neighbors had an elderly father who was passionate about golfing. The father, a sweet man, couldn’t do much anymore, but he continued to golf regularly. When anybody would ask what he’d like for his birthday or a holiday, his answer was always the same – golf balls, please! I gave my golf balls to my neighbor; the neighbor re-gifted them to his dad; dad was pleased and delighted. Thus, the story has a very happy ending.

I received some extremely rare and valuable jewelry from my husband’s grandmother’s estate. This stuff is gorgeous. But, hubby’s grandma was a nasty, mean-spirited woman whom I quietly loathed. I almost never use the jewelry, because I don’t like remembering her. The monetary values of things mean little to me; I gladly wear costume jewelry from people who have loved and cared about me, but I pass on the custom-designed, diamond, classic Art Deco earrings, worth more than $10K, from someone so cruel.

My ex husband got me a dust buster, a vacuum cleaner that is hand held and attached to the wall, for my birthday one year.

^^^ Variety is the spice of life. My own birthday is next week, and I asked my husband for a Dustbuster! :-)

I asked for, and got, a dustbuster one year. Made me super happy. If it hadn’t been on my wishlist I might have been annoyed.

The year I asked for either a ladder or a toolbox and got a watch wasn’t too good.

It’s a funny thing, but I have no answer for this question. To my mind, gifts, like sex, have no “bad” attached to them. (The ‘worst’ sex I ever had was just fantastic.)

I’ve loved some gifts less than others, naturally, but I don’t think that I’ve ever been particularly “disappointed” to receive one. The concept is entirely foreign to me, truly.

@chyna That sucks

^^ haha..good one..)

My ex bought me an electric carving knife. I was sorely tempted to use it.

Oh and he bought me a boombox and put it on credit that I had to pay off! That was disappointing for months and months on end.

Should’ve used the knife after the boombox

Hindsight is a wonderful thing @Espiritus_Corvus!

The thing with the boombox was, I was thrilled when I opened it. We had a relative staying with us and with hindsight I think my ex wanted to look good. I had no idea about the credit until a few weeks later when the bill arrived and I had to start paying it off. We had a big mortgage and little kids. It left a very nasty taste and I never enjoyed that present from that point on.

A good friend bought me a sweater, size “Small.” It was so obviously too small for me, no way would she think I wore that size. She probably got it very cheap and that’s why she couldn’t pass it up. I was upset because I put a lot of thought into gifts I buy people, and that year was no different, meanwhile I got a sweater that she definitely had to realize would not fit me.

When I was five I really wanted a drum for Christmas, one with a strap to put around my neck so I could drum while walking, one just like Christopher Robin.

I got a double bongo drum instead. Santa thought I wanted to be a beatnik.

In my earlier years I loved the color purple.
I will never forget the purple tennis shoes
my mother gave me for my birthday not
taking into consideration that I wear a size 11
for women! Those purple shoes looked like
not boats but “ocean liners” on my feet!
My mother was so happy with herself for finding
purple shoes and I was so disappointed that
the one gift I always looked forward to getting was
a total bomb that year!

@zenvelo – I have your drum hanging by the front door. Pick it up anytime.

In 1997 I had been diagnosed with Graves disease and was quite ill and absolutely terrified that I would never be able to have a child. Some friends thought it would be hilarious to give me a gag gift of a pair of baby booties. I cried.

That is TERRIBLE, @cazzie.

Point em out, I’ll kick their asses.

@cazzie “Some friends…” I’m at a loss for words. I hope these so-called “friends” are now long out of your life.