# I cannot imagine a more inappropriate gift **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 16, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015 "2003-01-16T18:04:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/21 "2003-01-17T03:03:14Z")
> [@](#): > > One year she gave me a short-sleeve flannel shirt I have a shirt made of thin, cotton-like material that doesn’t really do jack in the keeping warm/protection from the elements department. The sleeves are also about 1/2 length, down to my elbows or so. It has a hood. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/22 "2003-01-17T17:16:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Francesca \* > \*\* > > They got my mother… > > _A musical piano ornament._ > > It plays _music_. For their daughter. Who has been completely deaf _all her life_. > > I have no idea what they were thinking. \*\* Does it play a Beethoven song? Because that would be sort of clever, actually. (Not that they’d be able to appreciate it without being able to hear the song and recognise it as Beethoven.) ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/23 "2003-01-17T17:18:35Z")
And if the piano looks nice, that might be the reason. But the chocolate just doesn’t make sense. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/24 "2003-01-17T17:26:55Z")
They should’ve brought a chocolate piano. ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/25 "2003-01-17T17:48:12Z")
I believe it’s Chopin. And it’s a tacky plastic piano! It doesn’t look good. I think the piano has made its way to the bin. And the chocolate has made its way to my stomach. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/26 "2003-01-17T18:00:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cichlidiot \* > \*\*He obsesses over cable worship programs and anything having to do with the christian religion. In light of this, I thought it inappropriate to buy him another Bible. \*\* While I sit on the other side of the fence (rather than obsessing over Christianity, I tend to avoid it when possible), my own mother’s [gift of a Bible](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=152708) seemed pretty inappropriate to me. Not heinously so, but enough to bother me for a while. The OP’s gifts are far less appropriate, though perhaps it is indeed just thoughtlessness here too. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/27 "2003-01-17T18:03:25Z")
Well, Frannie, look on the bright side: They could have gotten her an expensive set of stereo headphones. ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/28 "2003-01-17T18:07:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spooky \* > \*\*I think I will give it to the Goodwill. \*\* I would be nigh EXSTATIC to have such a hat! It is TOO COLD here. It’s supposed to get to 20 below tonight, and 25 below on Monday night. Hey, if I give ya shipping costs…? ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/29 "2003-01-18T00:18:10Z")
I wanna know what Dalovin’dj got!! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/30 "2003-01-18T03:48:00Z")
Me too-don’t leave us hanging like that! ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Creant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Miss\_Creant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Creant)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/31 "2003-01-18T04:14:37Z")
This reminds me of my family’s Hanukah party. There’s too many of us in the extended family to buy everyone a gift so we do a grab bag game. All the gifts go in a big pile and everybody gets a number. Number 1, has to take a gift from the pile. Number 2 can take Number 1’s gift or take from the pile, so the higher your number, the better gift you can snag. We’ve been doing this for twenty-something years so we’ve had to add a couple of rules through the years. For example, you can’t take a gift from someone more than three times and travel alarm clocks or calculators have been outlawed. A couple of years ago, our Hanukah extravaganza was at my older sister’s house. Sister’s husband is from a large Irish Catholic family. Sister invited Husband’s parents to the party. We go to do the grab bag and there’s the usual fracas. Sister’s MIL gets a number in the middle. She chooses to take a gift from the pile. Gift is a HIDEOUS plastic menorah. It looks like it was made out of PlaySkool people. I think we laughed for about 20 minutes. At one point I heard my BIL say that he “thought his parents had everything, but that was one thing he was SURE they didn’t have!” They kept it, too. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/32 "2003-01-18T12:05:35Z")
**Miss Creant** - we do a gift exchange like that at work every year, and it’s great fun! I tried to do a gift exchange like this with the DC-Balt Dopers this past Christmas, but they don’t “get it” yet: nobody stole from anyone else. Maybe next year… ---
**Author:** ![yellowpagesgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ba9def/32.png) [@yellowpagesgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowpagesgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/33 "2003-01-18T15:23:32Z")
I made the decision this year to move to Michigan from Chicago to live with my internet boyfriend. My mother showed her obvious dismay by gifting me at my birthday with the “Single in Chicago” issue of Chicago Magazine. Also, is anyone else’s mother in denial about their daughter’s weight? It appears that my mother is in denial about my true size as she insists on buying me clothes for birthdays and Christmas that are in her size (medium) when I think it must be SO obvious to everyone but her that I am definitely not a medium. Moms are so silly. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/34 "2003-01-18T19:09:38Z")
So, about this grab-bag game… Somebody is chosen to pick first (how?). A picks a gift. Then B has a choice: either take A’s gift, or pick from the pile. Then…does A get to pick again? And do people get to examine, weigh, or shake the gifts beforehand? I gotta know! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mushono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@Mushono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mushono)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/35 "2003-01-18T19:13:57Z")
Here we go, [the perfect gift](http://www.ballooninabox.co.uk/gifts.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/36 "2003-01-18T19:40:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yellowpagesgirl \* > \*\*Also, is anyone else’s mother in denial about their daughter’s weight? It appears that my mother is in denial about my true size as she insists on buying me clothes for birthdays and Christmas that are in her size (medium) when I think it must be SO obvious to everyone but her that I am definitely not a medium. Moms are so silly. \*\* My mom thinks I am quite a lot fatter than I am. It’s so nice to receive something in the mail…and oooh, clothing! And ooooh, it’s…WAY TOO BIG! Nothing makes my day quite like knowing that my mom thinks I weigh twenty pounds more than I do. ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/37 "2003-01-18T22:06:58Z")
For Christmas I got a pair of red satin pjs in a large and a blue sweater in a 2X—does my mom think I shrink at night or grow during the day? Neither fit----pjs should be roomier and sweater’s waistline hits my hips! My aunt once gave me a plastic tea set when I was 15. I took it to the neighbor kids down the block, the 4 and 6 year old girls. ---
**Author:** ![NightRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@NightRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightRabbit)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/38 "2003-01-18T23:17:13Z")
My mom is diabetic, and one of our neighbors (who is fully aware of her condition) bought her a dessert cookbook full of chocolate and sweets recipes- she wouldn’t be able to eat a ONE of them! The neighbor isn’t even that old! There’s no excuse for that… ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/39 "2003-01-18T23:46:07Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by YellowPagesGirl_ > It appears that my mother is in denial about my true size as she insists on buying me clothes for birthdays and Christmas that are in her size (medium) when I think it must be SO obvious to everyone but her that I am definitely not a medium. Moms are so silly. Not my mom, but my MIL. One Christmas, when I was about a size 22, she bought me a shirt that was a size 16!! We have a good enough relationship that I felt comfortable saying to her, “Betty, what were you thinking? This won’t fit me til I’m about 2 years dead!” She replied, “Well, the clerk at the store said it would fit”😕 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015/40 "2003-01-19T00:36:22Z")
For some reason, about five years ago people kept giving me earrings for pierced ears. I don’t have pierced ears. I don’t ever plan on having them. I thanked the givers and mentioned about my ears being incompatible with the gifts. It was bizarre while it lasted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-imagine-a-more-inappropriate-gift/149015.md?page=3)