# MEAN Christmas presents **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 19, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779 "2011-12-19T23:03:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/101 "2011-12-21T15:55:55Z")
> [@Hedda\_Rosa](#): > > I think the meanest gift is those fake lottery tickets. $10k or whatever could really solve someone’s problems and to give that hope and sense of possibility for 30 seconds before they read the fine print isn’t just mean but is downright heartless and cruel. Not the slightest bit funny. Agreed, and wholeheartedly. Whoever came up with the idea for those stupid things deserves to be force-fed every last one ever sold. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/102 "2011-12-21T16:04:28Z")
> [@echo6160](#): > > Worst gift ever - small group of coworkers had an impromptu gift exchange one year. Led by the overbearing obnoxious foreman. I suspect it was so he could give his gift with as much attention as possible - he gave a guy a box of tampons and when he opened it yelled “So you’ll stop your fu\*&^ng whining and crying all the time!” > > Thing is, this guy didn’t whine and cry excessively. The foreman was just a total douche and didn’t like that one guy. So he set up a frickin gift exchange just so he could humiliate him in front of the other guys. It was never done previously, and never done again. That’s pretty mean… > [@tdn](#): > > Guess what he deserves this year? The large economy bottle of Midol? 😃 (for the foreman) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/103 "2011-12-21T16:13:52Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > The large economy bottle of Midol? 😃 (for the foreman) I was thinking a nice big bottle of Summer’s Eve. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/104 "2011-12-21T16:26:47Z")
I’ve been thinking and I honestly can’t think of any especially mean gifts I’ve received or witnessed. The closest I can think of was similar to the stereotypical “Man gives wife cleaning supplies” scenario. One Christmas, my mother unwrapped the biggest present under the tree to find that Dad had gotten her a new laundry basket. (There may or may not have been a coconut in it; my family’s strange.) It took a minute for her to notice the diamond bracelet fastened to one of the handles and even longer for Dad to convince here it was real. I’ll agree with those who say that white elephant, Yankee swap, dirty Santa (or whatever) exchanges can be a lot of fun if everyone’s in the right mood and that steeling gifts can make it a lot more fun. In the most recent exchange I went to, there were mostly normal gifts, with enough weird gifts to make things interesting and lots of stealing. Several times, gifts were stolen out of mercy, to let someone who didn’t like what they’d opened have another chance. For example, a friend with nut allergies opened two separate gifts that contained foods he couldn’t eat; on each occasion, someone who actually liked the food in question stole it within a few rounds and the guy with the allergy got to open a new gift. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/105 "2011-12-21T17:22:51Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > My kid is getting an iPod–his third in three years. (One went through the wash and was never the same, next one lost.) It’s in a giant Macy’s box, taped to the lid. He is mystified by the package, because he’s looking for a small one. Is that mean?\ I don’t think so - an iPod box with something crappy in it would be mean. > [@stpauler](#): > > Not a Christmas gift but… > > I went to China a couple years ago and bought a couple watches. One of them I liked just the styling of and it was an “Omega” watch. Or at least that’s what it said. It’s 99.99999% sure it’s a counterfeit. Anyways, I had it packed away and found it after moving a couple months ago. I mentioned it to a co-worker who said her fiance always wanted an Omega watch and asked if she could borrow it. Sure, she took it home and had him close his eyes and put it in his hands. She didn’t expect him to starting sobbing uncontrollably. Apparently, it then turned into a bit of a fight as well when she revealed that it was mine. > > I ended up having him keep the watch because I felt so bad at her “joke”. Ooh, that does not bode well for their marriage, if she doesn’t understand why he wouldn’t enjoy that. > [@tdn](#): > > Guess what he deserves this year? A swift kick in the ass with a steel-toed boot? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/106 "2011-12-21T17:46:19Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I was thinking a nice big bottle of Summer’s Eve. Or just the bag. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/107 "2011-12-21T20:17:46Z")
My Uncle’s presentation of an engagement ring. Totally evil. A large piece of office equipment had fallen on her arms and broken both of them, so she was in casts from wrist to elbow. He wraps up a big box of laundry detergent as her “Christmas Gift” and shoves the ring down inside of it. She’s expecting the ring, can’t wait to see it, and so thoughtlessly plunges her hands down into the soap powder. Anybody who’s ever been in a cast can tell you the horrid hell of itching she suffered over the next three weeks. He still tells the story, laughing hysterically all the while. She married him anyway. I don’t know why anyone ever marries the men in my family, but they’ve all found at least one sucker each, and some as many as three. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/108 "2011-12-21T20:33:00Z")
> [@echo6160](#): > > I’m right there with you up until “ask him to take the cost out of her paycheck or bonus.” That’s just ridiculous. Any boss who would actually deduct the cost of a single roll of toilet paper (let alone one anal enough to figure that out) is a boss not worth working for. Any office environment that expects an employee to go through something like that sound soul crushing and miserable. Of course it’s ridiculous. It’s a response to the notion this person would take TP because she can’t be arsed to stop on the way home. The point, taken to the extreme, was she wasn’t coming clean about it even when there’s ample opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/109 "2011-12-21T20:46:50Z")
This one isn’t mean, but it is kind of thoughtless. Airman’s aunt generously sends something from Harry and David every year. We got ours today. I eagerly opened the box, unwrapped the shiny silvery bubble wrap, lifted the “Congratulations!” note and saw a tin of Moose Crunch. For those of you who have never heard of this, it’s candied popcorn with chocolate and sometimes macadamia nuts. Just for shits and grins, I checked the label to see how many points it’ll cost me to have a single serving. It will cost me six points, which is about what I eat for lunch. But the tin is nice, so I call dibs on that. 😃 The thoughtless part is that Airman’s aunt knows I’m losing weight. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/110 "2011-12-21T21:04:14Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > [snip] > > So what happened was that someone headed into one of these bathrooms right after Our Suspect came out, and discovered after… doing her business… that there was No Paper. > > [snip] Oh wow. From the OP, I assumed this woman had just been stealing rolls of TP, but now you say she’d been stealing _The_ TP (as in, there was none left for the next person). Which is at least an order of magnitude worse, and I have no sympathy for her. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/111 "2011-12-22T15:32:56Z")
> [@King\_Bobo](#): > > I am a bit nonplussed at all of the latent hostility displayed in some of these "gag’ gifts. > > Luckily, I have had minimum exposure to some of the practices here - never have been in a Yankee gift exchange etc. > > That said, what goes through some folks minds? > > Why do people think it is cute to humiliate another - especially in this season of “Good Will”. > > Colour me old, old-fashioned and just downright weird. > > Is there really some pleasure in seeing someone open a tasteless gift? Surely some of the Ick-factor reflects back on the gifter. > > While I am on my soap box, in regards to the OP, what kind of office is it that toilet paper is counted? > How can you be sure that said lady is purloining the TP?. > > OK, rant over. Just wanted to touch on a couple of points to vent my lack of understanding of these strange things. > > Have at it to wise me up. I’m with you, **King**. These are some of the most fucked up, passive aggressive actions I’ve ever read. Horrible. Karma is a bitch, and I certainly hope these “pranksters” get theirs at some point. I just feel if you’re going to give a present, do it right. If you feel the need to be a dick about it, just don’t bother. Yankee swaps and white elephants excluded, of course. Mild jokes, like putting a cool gift in an odd box, are probably the threshold of what I’d consider to be acceptable. It really is true; some folks use a season meant to encourage goodwill and love for your fellow human beings as an opportunity to show how clever and dickish one can be. FAIL. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/112 "2011-12-22T16:45:46Z")
A good friend of mine tells me that she had asked for a pair of ice skates one year when she was about 12, and on the day was given a package the right size and weight, and opened it to find…two reams of printer paper. I’ve met her parents and it could well be they were just being clueless rather than outright mean, but who knows? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/113 "2011-12-22T17:38:55Z")
This wasn’t intended to be mean, but it felt that way at the time. Back in the olden days - the 60s, to narrow it down, I wanted a record player and a bunch of Beatles albums. Record albums are hard to disguise, so I knew I was getting some. Simon and Garfunkel. 😕 Bear in mind that at the time, I’d never heard of them, and they most certainly weren’t in the same league as the Fab Four! And there was another package for me - with a handle!! I just knew it was my record player. Nope. It was a suitcase. I confess, I was a brat about that - started crying and everything. My mom got all upset and gave me the receipt and told me I could just take it back, at which point I felt like a mega-spoiled bitch. She really wasn’t being mean - she thought it was something I’d like and could use. As it happened, it was - I bought 2 more matching pieces and used that luggage for years. I still feel bad about my reaction more than 40 years later… ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/114 "2011-12-22T17:51:21Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > A good friend of mine tells me that she had asked for a pair of ice skates one year when she was about 12, and on the day was given a package the right size and weight, and opened it to find…two reams of printer paper. Cheap skates. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/115 "2011-12-22T17:52:35Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > This wasn’t intended to be mean, but it felt that way at the time. Back in the olden days - the 60s, to narrow it down, I wanted a record player and a bunch of Beatles albums. Record albums are hard to disguise, so I knew I was getting some. Simon and Garfunkel. 😕 Bear in mind that at the time, I’d never heard of them, and they most certainly weren’t in the same league as the Fab Four! > > And there was another package for me - with a handle!! I just knew it was my record player. > > Nope. It was a suitcase. I confess, I was a brat about that - started crying and everything. My mom got all upset and gave me the receipt and told me I could just take it back, at which point I felt like a mega-spoiled bitch. She really wasn’t being mean - she thought it was something I’d like and could use. > > As it happened, it was - I bought 2 more matching pieces and used that luggage for years. I still feel bad about my reaction more than 40 years later… Ya know it’s a wonder more parents don’t give their teenage progeny luggage. I mean if there’s ever a time a parent or parents would _wish_ their kid would run away from home it would have to be durin’ the teen years. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/116 "2011-12-22T18:07:46Z")
> [@echo6160](#): > > I’m right there with you up until “ask him to take the cost out of her paycheck or bonus.” That’s just ridiculous. Any boss who would actually deduct the cost of a single roll of toilet paper (let alone one anal enough to figure that out) is a boss not worth working for. Any office environment that expects an employee to go through something like that sound soul crushing and miserable. > > Now the letting the boss know part, that’s fine, but the ASKING to have it docked from your PAYCHECK part…egads. Isn’t it a bit ridiculous to let your boss know you’re stealing and then expect them to do nothing? I’m not really sure why it’s odd to have it docked if you’re taking it. If she were buying it herself like a normal person, she’d be paying for it. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/117 "2011-12-22T19:05:26Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > [QUOTE=El\_Kabong] > A good friend of mine tells me that she had asked for a pair of ice skates one year when she was about 12, and on the day was given a package the right size and weight, and opened it to find…two reams of printer paper. Cheap skates. [/QUOTE] ::rimshot:: ---
**Author:** ![markm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@markm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markm)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/118 "2011-12-22T20:18:16Z")
This wouldn’t have been so mean if certain parties hadn’t been present: In college, my fraternity did an annual joke secret Santa exchange, where everyone drew names, then bought something for their drawn name that would be humorous. As luck would have it, I drew the name of one of my good friends and just days before, he and his girlfriend found out she was pregnant (definitely not expected, if you know what I mean.) As his gift, I bought him a watch that the face opened up to reveal a condom. I wrapped up the watch with a note saying, “Now you’ll always have time to wrap it properly first.” He would have taken it as funny ribbing, except, for some reason, his girlfriend was present at the exchange (because of the nature of the exchange, GFs and spouses were not usually present during the actual event but could come for the party afterward.) She was mortified and he got a bit pissed. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/119 "2011-12-22T20:24:46Z")
I don’t know if this qualifies as mean since it was part of ongoing prank war between two guys, but one of them got a solid win for himself when, amidst other gifts, he gave friend a $100 gift card for a restaurant. Except, all he’d done was take one of the cards off the rack and write $100 on it, so when recipient tried to use it they told him, uh sorry there’s no money on this. If it hadn’t been part of an ongoing war (and if the parties involved couldn’t afford the $100 dinner without the card) it’d be mean but as it is I just find it hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779/120 "2011-12-22T20:56:13Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > This wasn’t intended to be mean, but it felt that way at the time. Back in the olden days - the 60s, to narrow it down, I wanted a record player and a bunch of Beatles albums. Record albums are hard to disguise, so I knew I was getting some. Simon and Garfunkel. 😕 Bear in mind that at the time, I’d never heard of them, and they most certainly weren’t in the same league as the Fab Four! > > And there was another package for me - with a handle!! I just knew it was my record player. > > Nope. It was a suitcase. I confess, I was a brat about that - started crying and everything. My mom got all upset and gave me the receipt and told me I could just take it back, at which point I felt like a mega-spoiled bitch. She really wasn’t being mean - she thought it was something I’d like and could use. > > As it happened, it was - I bought 2 more matching pieces and used that luggage for years. I still feel bad about my reaction more than 40 years later… My dad gave me a classical music CD one year when I was about 12 and my reaction was, “Here, Dad, I think this is yours, somebody must have put the wrong tag on the present.” No, he’d gotten it for me. I was in a phase of being obsessed with Pachelbel’s Canon and he had gotten a CD of it for me (with assorted other songs). I just didn’t bother to look at what was on the CD. I felt really bad. As it turned out, it was a fantastic present and I’ve listened to that CD hundreds of times over the years. Then there was the time we were opening stockings at my grandparents’ house and my brother and I were feeling a couple of small squishy packages and wondering what they could be. My dad said, “SOCKS!” in a really sarcastic voice. Guess what it was? :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-christmas-presents/606779.md?page=7)