# Gifts you'd rather not get **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 5, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194 "2020-05-05T17:18:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/1 "2020-05-05T17:18:04Z")
Prompted by an ad about giving Mom flowers on Mothers Day, but this is about gifts in general. I don’t want flowers. Thanks. I don’t want another mug, no matter how cute or touching the saying is. I don’t want jewelry or perfume - I don’t use either. I don’t drink coffee, and I’m really not all that crazy about wine. And spare me knick-knacks that I’ll have to dust or appliances that I’ll have to find homes for. And clothing is too big a crap shoot, what with sizes, styles, colors, fabrics - but if you happen to make perfect choices, I may hold you hostage and make you go shopping with me! Of course, I don’t have to worry about any of this for Mothers Day, since my daughter is broke and she knows I’m not much of a fan of gifts anyway. I’m bored and I started to wonder what kinds of things you’d prefer not to be given under any circumstance for any occasion. If for some unknown reason someone would give me something on my “don’t want” list, I’d be gracious and appreciative, and later I’d try to figure out how soon I could regift it. I have manners, but I have limits. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/2 "2020-05-05T17:33:43Z")
Cheap tchotchkes. I don’t need another dish or small poster or tiny vase that you got in Vietnam or whatever. Thanks for thinking of me, but just share your story with me over coffee or whatever. I don’t need some tiny piece of art that I likely don’t want and feel compelled to keep just because it was a gift. Also, along a similar vein, my kids are always getting me ties and socks because they can afford them. I always tell them to just give me a hand-made card or piece of art because there are lots of socks and ties out there, but only one piece of art of card made by their hand. Or even just the gift of time spent with them. I can’t buy that. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/3 "2020-05-05T17:36:49Z")
Well…I’d rather not get anything, really. Except for exorbitantly expensive stuff, I have pretty much everything I need/want. Gifts just end up being clutter for the most part. And it’s sweet when the kids make something or whatever, but there’s only so much room to put that stuff too. That’s why I put a halt to my mom/dad/brother/sister-in-law exchanging gifts for Christmas a few years go. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/4 "2020-05-05T17:45:59Z")
Ditto to FairyChatMom’s whole list (well, except the wine. I’ll take that). Add chocolates and books. I love chocolate, but it’s not something to be thoughtlessly tossed down the hatch anymore. I also love books, and for that reason, I have a lot of opinions about the kind I like. I rarely buy books either, preferring to borrow them from the library. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/5 "2020-05-05T17:47:04Z")
$25 gift cards to sit-down restaurants. Students buy these at the grocery store. They inevitably are for some place where I would not usually go, and where $25 covers an entree and a soda. If it were somewhere I liked, that would be awesome. but I am just never going to use this Olive Garden or Red Lobster card. I wouldn’t go by myself and I don’t like it enough to be willing to pay for the rest of the family to go, too. If you want to spend $25 on a food-oriented gift card, fast food, fast casual, or coffee/desert is much more likely to get used, in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/6 "2020-05-05T17:53:16Z")
Language courses I’ll never complete. Hawai’ian was okay, Kʼicheʼ Mayan wasn’t bad, but Cherokee? C’mon sis, no more of those! Gift certificates for establishments run by fundy jeezoid scalawags. I’d give those to panhandlers. Subscriptions to game apps. Dried figs. Inspirational literature. Personalized golf balls - I don’t indulge. Iguanas. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/7 "2020-05-05T18:03:33Z")
No clothes! That’s the worst. I prefer consumable gifts, especially booze. But anything chocolate is fine and dandy too. And if you give me a food or beverage that I don’t like, I can easily dispose of it and tell you it was delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/8 "2020-05-05T18:13:01Z")
Electronics. I got so much of that crap I certainly don’t want more. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/9 "2020-05-05T18:35:27Z")
Most “things.” If I really want something I’ll just buy it. I’d love to do away with gift-giving altogether. If we can’t do that, let’s at least do charity gifts. You can demonstrate how well you know me and how much you care about me by donating to something I’m into-- Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, a cat rescue or environmental organization–without giving me more stuff to store in my tiny apartment. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/10 "2020-05-05T18:37:05Z")
I am a minimalist and I don’t want anything. Seriously. I don’t want or need more stuff of any kind. Donate to charity. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/11 "2020-05-05T19:17:59Z")
Funko Pops and Bobble Heads. It’s a laugh, they’re fun but seriously. I don’t collect them and have no desire to do so. I know my people mean well and I appreciate the sentiment. I really do but please. No more. I’m more of a minimalist and have been trying to get rid of stupid shit around the house. We’ve set a ton of stuff out on the curb, free for the taking and are renting a dumpster for the stuff we can’t give away. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/12 "2020-05-05T19:28:59Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I prefer consumable gifts, especially booze. Booze is fine. But get me the kind I like, like plain bourbon, scotch, or rum, and not the kind you like, like wine coolers or bourbon/apple liqueur. Fragrances. I use deodorant when the occasion requires, but I prefer not to smell like anything in particular. I don’t want a selection of six different fragrances, or a complete set of Axe products, including deodorant, body spray, and body wash! ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/13 "2020-05-05T20:21:08Z")
Hah! The couple who are our best friends buy me a light blue short-sleeved golf shirt for my birthday every year. Every year. It’s not a joke thing either. They are just very…predictable. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/14 "2020-05-05T20:21:23Z")
Obviously, the only safe choice for the OP is a gift certificate, tied up in a fancy bow. Though maybe she’d be irked at having to find space for another bow. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/15 "2020-05-05T20:44:34Z")
My fave gifts to give or to get, are trinkets. Not tchotchkes, little trinkety things, that are amusing and fun to hold in your hand. Not expensive, but simple and amusing. My feeling is, once it stops amusing you, please feel free to pass it to the next person/child who is interested in what it might be/do! In every foreign open market is someone selling a locally made handicraft/toy, made out of a local leaf or such, and folded into a giant bug or a hopping frog, etc. They aren’t intended for tourists, it’s for a local child out with him Mam, usually they cost only a few small coins! Know, right now, I am DEF having that! (I own a Jews harp carved from a small piece of bamboo!) (Sometimes we can’t stop, or I see something intriguing from a moving cab/bus/train, occasionally in the hand of a child, on public transport. I will hawk eye, in every market I go to, till I find it!:D) ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/16 "2020-05-05T20:55:17Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Obviously, the only safe choice for the OP is a gift certificate, tied up in a fancy bow. > > Though maybe she’d be irked at having to find space for another bow. Actually, I’d prefer no gifts at all. And those closest to me know that, so it’s all good. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/17 "2020-05-05T22:03:40Z")
Pictures of your kids. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/18 "2020-05-05T22:23:23Z")
Any variety of STDs. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/19 "2020-05-05T22:31:27Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Any variety of STDs. Here is a whole variety: > **[Tainted Love](https://www.giantmicrobes.com/us/products/taintedlove.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwncT1BRDhARIsAOQF9LldVVuxzyEQMd_Kx0h7GgdKSaYFY9e9QzooNuHtb7nfE1LZUiXGdfMaAmAAEALw_wcB)** > > These Tainted Love microbes may take your tears and that’s not nearly all. They’ll brighten your day if any tainted love does come your way!This educational box set includes mini plush representations of Herpes, Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, HPV and... Got these for my BIL for Xmas one year. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2020, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194/20 "2020-05-06T02:40:08Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > Cheap tchotchkes. Yeah, this. _“Hey, Gato is pretty handy! Let’s get him a piece of shit Multi-Tool!”_ Sorry. Junk. Gets thrown into the Junk Drawer. Can’t fix a Jeep with a pair of fold-out plyers with a flash-light attachment. > [@DummyGladHands](#): > > Pictures of your kids. And How! I don’t even like my own… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-youd-rather-not-get/853194.md?page=2)