With the holiday season upon us, presents are on top of many people's minds.
When it comes to the receiving end, a survey from November found that 43 percent of Americans would be the happiest if they got money, making it the most desired gift this year.
But not all letters reach Santa in time. A few days ago, Redditor Leading_War_5847 made a post on the platform, asking everyone what's the worst thing they found under the Christmas tree, and it already has nearly 15,000 replies.
From a bottle of shampoo to a case of toilet paper, here are the ones that earned the most upvotes, or sympathy, if you will.
We managed to get in touch with Leading_War_5847, whose real name is Kate, and she was kind enough to have a little chat with us about her now-viral post and the discussion it has started.
"Just before I blasted that question out to the r/AskReddit world, I had pondered this and past years' gifts that had me mentally or verbally stating '...What? Why? Is this real life or did I really just open an avocado as a Christmas gift?' (If you know the meme, you know)," she told Bored Panda.
"I knew I wasn't the only one who had these same thoughts and wanted to hear different strangers' responses!"
"Several reoccurring themes amongst the comments seem to be 'Nothing', which is heartbreaking sifting through thousands of comments," the Redditor observed. "Here is a reminder to [think of] your loved ones in your life, even the smallest gesture will evidently be cherished!"
Kate releases poetry and other forms of self-expression on her blog, and whether it's her compassionate nature shining through or not, she doesn't necessarily believe in a "bad" Christmas present.
That being said, "there are well-thought-through, caring gifts, and last-minute, careless gifts. I personally prefer the first group!" she explained.
Kate's right. Research into the psychological side of the subject suggests there are two things to consider when giving someone a gift.
The first is to make the recipient happy — that mostly depends on whether the gift is something they want.
The second is to strengthen the relationship between us (the giver) and them (the recipient). This is achieved by giving a thoughtful and memorable gift, one that shows we know the person and can figure out what they want even without directly asking.
According to Adrian R. Camilleri, senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia, the best kind of gift is one both desired by the recipient and is thoughtful.
The worst kind of gift, on the other hand, is neither desired nor thoughtful.
"This is why buying a gift can be so anxiety-inducing. There is a social risk involved," he explained.
"A well-received gift can improve the quality of relationship between giver and recipient by increasing feelings of connection, bonding, and commitment. A poorly received gift can do the opposite."
When my wife and I first got married her parents hated me. One year they got me a woman's sweater. It was very obviously a woman's sweater too. The next Christmas I wore it over and my MIL asked my wife why I was wearing a woman's sweater.Okay mine was a good "seriously?"
My boyfriend's grandma is getting me a diamond ring. NOT AN ENGAGEMENT RING.
She and I had gotten dinner while he was on a 3 week trip. She had a really unique diamond ring and I complimented the setting. So we got lunch on the 23rd so she could give me my Christmas present. I opened the box and was really confused because it was little plastic rings. I thought it was maybe something craft related (I crochet). Turns out it was for sizing a ring. And a piece of paper under it showing me the ring that was being custom made.
So yeah. She said it's a good "every day diamond". So now I'm apparently a woman who has every day diamonds.I got a positive one that made me say "seriously???" in an excited way. My husband got me a ring with our kids birthstones and it was so unexpected and touching. I also made a comment about the stocking thing going around about mom's having empty stockings. He tries and puts a couple small things in. I mentioned it was such a fond memory having an over-stuffed stocking with a couple small gifts and loads of candy. My stocking was comically stuffed this year with some items even having to sit beside it. Bless this man.Recovering gambling addict here, thankfully I managed to kick the habit before it totally ruined my life. This year I got a bunch of lottery scratch off cards. Had my wife do the honors with them, and joke is on my family, they actually won a decent amount of money. Nothing life changing but will definitely pay for some bills we knew were on the way.
Yes, they knew about my addiction. They still have gotten me Texas hold-em poker sets when those were en vogue, and other gambling related stuff over the years. Despite my continued insistence they not, and pointing out that some of these would be like giving a recovering alcoholic a gift card to the liquor store.
Ah, the gift of not being heard$2k. I’m going into the 3rd month of my maternity leave and have exhausted my gov’t aid, PTO, and paid maternity leave hrs. We’re moving in two days to give my little one a new room. Money has been tight. My mom is retired, doesn’t have much, and lives in a other state. She gifted me 2k in cash and I’m still in disbelief. It’s going to help cover so many bills. Parents are amazing!My dad gave me a hammer and pliers from his extensive tool collection. Wrapped it and everything ?
Put it the gift bag with the baking dish he got me( which I wanted).
I was like wtf until I realized the other day I told him I don’t know what happened to my pilers or hammer.A bar set with very nice glasses from someone who knows I quit drinking after 30 years of alcohol abuse and a fatty liver disease diagnosis. It was my mom. My family just cannot process the idea of not consuming liquor every day.My sister and I bought each other the same orchid Lego set ? it was a good "seriously" moment lmfaoMIL got me an ugly boxed up purse with the TJMaxx clearance sticker still attached. The box it came in was dusty and damaged.
She got our family of five an expired popcorn assortment and a container of Jolly Rancher lollipops.
Meanwhile, I gave her an engraved bracelet with her late husband's handwriting on it.
Please don't gift just to gift. Put a *little* thought into it or don't give anything.This was an internal "seriously" that is now a running joke. I love whiskey and Star Wars. A few years ago, my wife got me a really cool Stormtrooper decanter and I absolutely love it! Then a few months later I got a promotion and my old branch gave me the same decanter as a going away gift. Then I got one from secret Santa last year. Now my Brother in Law is 21 and he is excited. He got me the same decanter.
The great part is I love Star Wars and always have room for duplicates. Now I have a stormtrooper army to hold my whiskey. Plus somehow the original my wife got me is a higher quality so I will never mix it up with the others. I love them all but have to laugh at it lol.My mom made pineapple upside down cake for dessert because she said she knows it’s my favourite… I’m allergic to pineappleA company Christmas party at restaurant by the canyon. . Great prime rib dinner and open bar. Only this year the announcement was made at the end of the night that everyone had to pay for their own stuff this year. Seriously, no warning lol.I got my wife a 375 count pail of Reese Cups. Next year I might get her the 5 gallon bucket of pickles I found on Walmart. I'm still chasing the reaction I got the year I got her the book "How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety: And Abstinence, Drugs, Satanism, and Other Dangers That Threaten Their Nine Lives"Cheap bath set I'm allergic to. Every year, twice a year, for 20 years.My boss regifted me a book that she’d never read. I had given it to her last year for Christmas.3 bottles of wine. Every year for the past eight years I work in to a conversation with this person that I don’t drink. Usually at a dinner or party “can I get you a drink?” Thank you, I’m good with water, I don’t drink alcohol.
Every year I get wine.My MIL, is very much a theme giver. My husband gets all things WVU because we’re alumni. My son gets everything saxophone related because that is what he plays. My daughter gets gifts with cats be he likes cats. I have been dealing with breast cancer for the past year. My birthday and Mother’s Day gifts were breast cancer related. I told to please not do that for Christmas. Well, she didn’t listen. She got me a breast cancer awareness shirt, Christmas ornament (because nothing screams Christmas like cancer), and a table top snow man decorating a Christmas tree with breast cancer ribbons. ?♀️. I was polite and said thank you but inside I wanted to scream ‘are you kidding me!’. I’m not sure if it is all going to good will or the trash.my MIL gave us homemade applesauce and strawberry jam. she lives in Seattle, we’re in Boston. the applesauce was in a tupperware and the jam was in jars with wax seals topped with aluminum foil. there was a packet of “blue ice” included, but everything was room temperature by the time we got it. based on the postage label, it was in transit for a week. my husband insists it’s fine to eat.
edits: MIL is 90. She’s preparing to move into a senior living facility in a few months - she’s spry enough for her age, but honestly thought this was a lovely gift. She won’t be doing any cooking once she moves, so this is a one-time thing.
There is no chance the jam was canned in a hot water bath, she told me years ago that she only makes freezer jam.
I’ve put everything in the freezer while my husband insists this is safe to eat. I’m not willing to risk it, but he’s an adult who can make his own gastrointestinal choices.My dad got me a fire blanket. And then the next day, my wife's aunt got me... the exact same fire blanket. I can only surmise that there's some conservative lunatic podcaster advertising fire blankets.I asked for a Ring doorbell and received the cheap version that is a "decoy" ring doorbell.
It doesn't function in anyway except hang out by the door.
Next year I'm buying what I want for myself and wrapping it up and putting it under the tree.Good "...seriously," my husband not only got me tickets to the bowl game of my absolute favorite team, he had a legendary player from said team cameo to tell me. Many tears were hadI didn’t get a Christmas gift…again. Nothing. Seriously? My husband promised ski lessons last year that never materialized. This year he claimed (on Christmas Day morning) that the new coat I bought on sale two months ago was my gift. Sigh. ?I'm bald. I got shampoo...Not me but my husband... his mom got him a tshirt with an ugly monkey in an army uniform on it, weird but whatever, that is until she told him she got it because she thought it looked like him. ?A personalized gift with my name misspelledI keep getting kitchen appliances every year, despite making it very well known I don't have a square inch of countertop space to spare in my kitchen.I once got a beard trimmer only to discover that it had been used and put back in the box with curlies!My in-laws usually give us a gift card to my favorite restaurants (a group with a seafood place, an Italian place, a BBQ place, etc) and a note that they'll babysit the kids so we can have a date night. I look forward to it every year.
This year, they gave us a certificate to go to a religious couples retreat. We are not at all religious.Nothing. I got nothing for Christmas this year at all.My sister got a book from my grandmother titled “Proper Etiquette.”
She proceeded to tell her in front of the whole family that “She’ll be more likely to make the boys stay after reading it!”
My sister just smiled and carried on.Whitening toothpaste. That's all I got.My grandparents gave my parents a framed picture of a random little boy and nobody knows who it is
Edit: no it’s not the one that came with the frameA bird house made out of bird seed.
The premise of the gift is for the birds to eat themselves into homelessness?I got put into a 10k run. Unbeknownst to meI asked for a jigsaw puzzle that had 300-1000 pieces.
I received three jigsaw puzzles with 100 pieces each.My sister gave my 15 yo son a flame thrower. ?My brother gave me a bright orange wallet. Because you like orange so much, he said while flashing the wallet I gave him a few years ago. It's red. He's colour blind.The same holiday set of s****y body wash I’ve been throwing away since I was like 17
Edit: to stop the notifications the throwing away bit was for dramatic flair- it’s already in the donate bag with some other well-meant but not useful to me gifts that I’ll donate next week.Case of toilet paper?
So 2020.Rub on tattoos….I have real tattoos.I got a REALLY nice whiskey set from the MIL. Four tumblers, 12 bullet ice cubes, a decanter, and a high priced bottle of whiskey.
I don't drink.....A couple’s massage from my sister. My divorce is almost finalized and I’m not seeing anyone.First gift I opened said it was from my mom. There was a small jewelry box which I opened to find FOUR MOLARS.
My sister starts cracking up. They’re her wisdom teeth LMAO. Her husband even found something with my mom’s handwriting on it to make the tag believable.I have a 6 month old daughter. Brother figured an age appropriate gift would be a skateboard. Go figureMy son bought me a gallon of WD40. A gallon! Of WD40!
I looked him straight in the eye and said, “this is the most alpha present I’ve ever received”My mom still gives me extremely religious books (think straight-up scripture digests) that are “just so good and inspiring” despite the fact that I have been clear for years on the fact that I am simply no longer religious
Even more frustrating is that she gave my partner (he’s Jewish) and I each an identical copy of these scripture books, so not only did she hand us what we would consider totally inert clutter objects, she sent two to the same household.
Off they go to a Little Free Library box, where I genuinely hope they are found by someone who will connect with it…
EDIT: lol no LFL, I won’t clutter them up furtherTwo headbands bought at a craft fair. I'm 35 and have never worn headbands in my life. That was the only thing I got. Which is fine, just confusing. Thanks, mom.A shoe size measuring tool. Like a full on metal one that’s you’d see at a shoe store.Cheese slicers...didn't have any until now. For some reason my family thought it would be funny to get me FIVE different ones..I used to give family friends gift cards to Nordstrom or whatever and I always without fail, got the Ghirardelli peppermint bark squares. Now I love those… but like the jumbo bags, the snowman variation and the minis… for years…. Annoying. I stopped giving them gifts lol
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