# Bitch about your shitty Christmas gifts. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 26, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221 "2014-12-26T16:59:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/41 "2014-12-27T04:22:58Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > _Somebody_ gave my kid a _god-awful_ paint-by-number wall plaque. Featuring the artwork of Norman Rockwell. So obviously old and crusty, it looks like it was pulled from a hoarder’s dumpster. So old, I couldn’t even find one like it on ebay. Closest estimate is the late 70’s. I’m guessing the paint is dried up into little rocks. > > _That’s_ what kids these days want. buy the kid some glitter or day-glo paints. make it unique. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/42 "2014-12-27T04:43:59Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > I kind of wish people would ignore my wish list. I started an Amazon list several years ago, with the fully-explained-many-times intention that it would be a general guideline to the sort of thing I’d like, not an explicit list of the exact, precise items for which I will accept no substitute. If you click on “List Actions” and choose “Save an Idea”, you can add general guidelines (“blue socks”; “a good non-fiction book”, etc.) to your Amazon Wish List. If you fill your wish list up that way, people would have to put a little more thought into their gifts. OTOH, I put exactly what I want on my wish list, get exactly what I list, and therefore have nothing to bitch about. Even the gifts that weren’t strictly off the list were things I would have wanted. Also, we celebrate Chanukah, which means that socks are almost a requirement. We all give them, we all get them, and we all like them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/43 "2014-12-27T04:53:32Z")
I didn’t really get any shitty gifts. I got an external hard drive that seems to have a dying controller, but I think I can fix that, and the fact that these people who aren’t rich thought to give me something like this, even if used, is still a blessing. No, the shitty thing I got wasn’t a gift, but it did happen Christmas Eve. I finally had the time to stop and let the December Windows updates go through. And they failed to install properly, and the System Restore point before hand failed. Now my Windows installation is hosed. I’m typing this from a LiveCD Linux, which I luckily had just finished burning and setting up for my mom’s donated computer without a hard drive. I use it between trying different methods to fix Windows. I also got chocolate from someone who knows I don’t eat chocolate, but I’ve learned my lesson complaining about food gifts around here. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/44 "2014-12-27T05:01:49Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I also got chocolate from someone who knows I don’t eat chocolate, but I’ve learned my lesson complaining about food gifts around here. Ah, I completely forgot about that. No bad gifts from friends or family, but the three co-workers who gave me gifts **all** gave me chocolate, which I don’t eat. I just donated it to the counter filled with tasty office gifts, so I’m sure it will be enjoyed. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/45 "2014-12-27T05:24:20Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > bathroom Hang it over the toilet, so he has to look at it every time he visits? > [@BigT](#): > > I finally had the time to stop and let the December Windows updates go through. And they failed to install properly, and the System Restore point before hand failed. Now my Windows installation is hosed. Out of curiosity, was it 7 or 8.1? (I have 8.1; I haven’t installed for December.) ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/46 "2014-12-27T07:20:30Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > That’s pretty awesome. Not having lived in a snow-bound land as an adult, before I clicked on the link I was thinking it might be some trendy, new-agey bullshit thing. You know like a jug of pure water naturally melted by the sun from some pristine glacier in Antarctica, and guaranteed to perfectly flush impurities from your aura. That would have been pretty WTF. > > But what you actually got is simultaneously far more practical and far more WTF as a gift :D. That damn jug weighs 10 lbs! They shipped us 10 lbs. of salt and sand like it was a delicacy from the old country. We have Menards here, too–why not a gift card which would have cost pennies to mail? I don’t get it. The jug of water will probably be next year. Because everyone needs water, so that makes a great gift. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/47 "2014-12-27T07:27:41Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Years ago National Lampoon magazine ran a cartoon series called “The Appletons” by B.K. Taylor, a parody of the typical American family, where the dad “Norm” was a total psycho. One year for Christmas he gave his children… meat. Steaks, chops, ribs, roasts, burgers, sausage- hundreds of pounds of Grade-A meat worth thousands of dollars. A gift you couldn’t call useless or cheap, but… :dubious: My in-laws gave us a quarter of a cow. I thought it was an awesome gift! 150 pounds of meat is pretty generous, IMHO, and very useful. We’re having Christmas tomorrow, so I may be back in a few hours… ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/48 "2014-12-27T09:32:23Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > I kind of wish people would ignore my wish list. I started an Amazon list several years ago, with the fully-explained-many-times intention that it would be a general guideline to the sort of thing I’d like, not an explicit list of the exact, precise items for which I will accept no substitute. The first year it was sort of treated that way, then it somehow became the explicit list of things for which no substitutes will be accepted. Then it somehow became my responsibility to figure out what people wanted to buy me and how much they wanted to spend and put suitable items on my list. Last year, about the only person who didn’t buy me things off the Amazon list or my Woolery registry was the aunt who doesn’t have internet access. And most of them gloat about how fast and easy it is to just pull up my list, make a couple of clicks, and be done with me. It took me several years finally to get through to Mr Boods and to my best friend that my Amazon wish list was how I kept track of books I needed/wanted to get the uni library to order for my classes, and not stuff that I myself personally wanted. Meanwhile, despite knowing me for almost 35 years, same said best friend spent a hell of a lot of money on blue ray discs (I don’t have a BR player) of television shows and films-based-ff-tv shows that I would gladly, instead, gouge out my own eyes with a dull spoon then to ever watch (eg the entire oeuvre of Joss Whedon, among other things). ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/49 "2014-12-27T10:14:16Z")
I got a gift that I was very pleased to receive but that turned out to have a dark side. It’s a beautiful, thick, fluffy, warm, maroon bathrobe. It sheds maroon lint everywhere. Before I realized that it was doing this I threw it in with a load of wash (I like to wash new things before wearing them the first time). I didn’t notice when I moved the laundry from the washer to the dryer, but when I took everything out of the dryer I discovered that everything was covered with a combination of big clumps of maroon lint and, the worst part, a fine maroon dust that does not brush off easily. Fortunately, rewashing and drying everything again, without the robe this time, mostly solved the problem. There were still some clumps of lint, easily picked off, but the dust was gone. Now I’m noticing maroon lint all over my house. Anyplace I’ve sat while wearing it is covered with it. I’m hoping that I can eliminate the problem with another wash dry cycle for the robe by itself, but I have to wonder if the thing is disintegrating. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/50 "2014-12-27T12:12:52Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Does it have pockets? Is it made out of something other than polyester or acrylic? Do you want to swap for a nice white one? Hah, actually I don’t like the sound of yours either. Luckily, I have a gift receipt, so I think I’ll exchange it for an actual blanket. I can use that. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/51 "2014-12-27T12:50:21Z")
A bottle of chocolate flavored ale from some micro brewery, with a _gasp_ Drinking Glass. \ ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/52 "2014-12-27T14:30:20Z")
got ya all beat - [Monkey Unicycle Pizza cutter](http://laughingsquid.com/pizza-peddler-a-monkey-riding-on-a-unicycle-pizza-cutter/) Now, this was from my wife. And she also bought me a new crockpot too. I do 99% of the cooking. Yes, it’s a joke, and I can’t imagine that it will work and we have a good pizza cutter already. I wonder how long I have to keep this… thing. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/53 "2014-12-27T16:15:33Z")
My wife and I got colds. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/54 "2014-12-27T16:51:50Z")
> [@Ms\_Boods](#): > > It took me several years finally to get through to Mr Boods and to my best friend that my Amazon wish list was how I kept track of books I needed/wanted to get the uni library to order for my classes, and not stuff that I myself personally wanted. This may be too late to do you any good, but you can have a private Amazon wishlist that only you can view. I have a public Christmas/birthday wishlist for people who want to buy me gifts, but keep a private list for things I’m considering getting for myself, like supplies for craft projects. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/55 "2014-12-27T17:08:12Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I wonder how long I have to keep this… thing. Until you use it as toe nail clippers. BTW- Don’t you wish you’d gotten socks instead? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/56 "2014-12-27T17:37:22Z")
My brother-in-law was pretty generous this year, sold some poor dumb _putz_ a 2013 Mazda3 Sport Sedan. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/57 "2014-12-27T17:59:03Z")
> [@Ms\_Boods](#): > > Meanwhile, despite knowing me for almost 35 years, same said best friend spent a hell of a lot of money on blue ray discs (I don’t have a BR player) of television shows and films-based-ff-tv shows that I would gladly, instead, gouge out my own eyes with a dull spoon then to ever watch (eg the entire oeuvre of Joss Whedon, among other things). Are they still wrapped in plastic? Amazon has a nice trade-in program, with slightly more money given for products in good/original packaging. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/58 "2014-12-27T18:42:00Z")
> [@campp](#): > > A bottle of chocolate flavored ale from some micro brewery, with a _gasp_ Drinking Glass. > > \ I’ll take it! I’ll trade you for a book of football trivia. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/59 "2014-12-27T19:01:10Z")
Book would be a lot smaller if it was just the stuff that _wasn’t_ trivial. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221/60 "2014-12-27T19:06:35Z")
Sigh. I am an ungrateful bitch, I know. But what the hell is it with the baby clothes? We are drowning in baby clothes! Stop buying us baby clothes! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-about-your-shitty-christmas-gifts/708221.md?page=4)