# What boy wouldn't LOVE a Disney Princess alarm clock? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 21, 2009, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045 "2009-12-21T07:23:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/41 "2009-12-21T18:52:41Z")
My son’s Boy Scout troop is having their annual Yankee Swap tonight. The rules are slightly different than those outlined by **Lamia**. They go like this: [ol] [li]Everyone draws a number at the beginning of the party.[/li][li]The person with the first number (Person #1) selects and opens a wrapped gift.[/li][li]The person with the second number (Person #2) selects and opens another wrapped gift. At that point, after unwrapping the gift, they have the choice between keeping the gift they just unwrapped and stealing the gift from Person #1. If they steal Person #1’s gift, they give them their gift in exchange. (That’s why it’s called “Yankee **Swap**.”)[/li][li]The person with the third number (Person #3) selects and opens another wrapped gift. At that point, after unwrapping the gift, they have the choice between keeping the gift they just unwrapped and stealing a gift from Person #1 **or** Person #2. If they steal a person’s gift, they give them their gift in exchange.[/li][li]The gift opening continues in this fashion. The person with the last number gets to choose between keeping the last gift or swapping with anyone else with a higher number. After that, Person #1 (who never had a chance to steal from anybody else, because they went first) then has the option of keeping whatever gift they ended up with, or swapping with anybody else.[/li][li]We have a gift limit of $10, so all of the gifts should be roughly comparable in value.[/ol][/li] Also, the Scout leaders have their own Yankee Swap separate from the Scouts. Last year, I ended up with the same gift I brought. 😉 ---
**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 21, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/42 "2009-12-21T18:52:43Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I also did kicked out of the Scouts, but that was for refusing to pray or feign belief in any gods. Wait, they make you pray or talk about god? I thought it w as just a general thing–not like, okay, now we’re going to pray… ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/43 "2009-12-21T18:54:10Z")
At my husband’s old workplace, they did one of those white elephant draws. We were always famous for getting a ridiculous gag gift and hiding a real gift in it. One year we stuck a DVD inside a horrid plastic shower curtain. The next year we put a Best Buy gift card into a Queer Eye for the Straight Guy calendar (which is not very popular amongst tech geeks, but was gladly taken by one of their girlfriends). Another year we regifted a hideous fiber-optic angel doll that we got in his family’s name draw (no idea why they thought I’d like a fiber-optic angel doll) and stuck a Home Depot gift card inside the box. A guy actually ended up stealing the doll for his kid. We told him about the gift card after the draw was done and he was ecstatic. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/44 "2009-12-21T18:54:56Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > How old are boy scouts anyway? I know a few little boys who like Disney princesses as much as they like Disney characters who share their genitals, but they may be a bit young to realize how gay it is to like girls. Cub Scouts: 7-10 Boy Scouts: 11-17 ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/45 "2009-12-21T18:58:03Z")
> [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](#): > > What could be worse than being a _girl_? Everything they like is terrible and they’re stinky and stupid, too. Joke time! Why do women wear makeup and perfume? 'Cause they’re ugly and smell bad!! Thank you! I’ll be here all week. Tip your waitress! ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/46 "2009-12-21T18:58:22Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > How old are boy scouts anyway? I know a few little boys who like Disney princesses as much as they like Disney characters who share their genitals, but they may be a bit young to realize how gay it is to like girls. Boy Scouts have to be at least 11 years old or have completed the fifth grade, or have earned the Arrow of Light Award (in Cub Scouts) and are at least 10 years old. Trust me, they’re old enough to know that a Disney Princess gift is socially unacceptable. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/47 "2009-12-21T19:04:03Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Disney Princess clock for a boy? > It’s time to masturbate to Belle! You mean Jasmine 😉 ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/48 "2009-12-21T19:09:13Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Wait, they make you pray or talk about god? I thought it w as just a general thing–not like, okay, now we’re going to pray… You’re not required to pray, nor are you required to belong to any particular religion, but it is a requirement of the organization that Boy Scouts (and the adult leaders) believe in God. You cannot be a professed atheist and remain in Boy Scouts. I personally don’t agree with this requirement, but Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is a private organization, and the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that they can have this requirement. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/49 "2009-12-21T19:22:35Z")
I had a Charlie Tuna alarm clock as a kid. Compared to a Disney Princess, I guess it was pretty butch. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/50 "2009-12-21T19:34:49Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > We do this at the holiday party where I work, and here’s how it goes: > > 1. Everyone draws a number at the beginning of the party. > 2. The person with the first number selects and opens a wrapped gift. > 3. The person with the second number may either steal the first person’s gift (in which case the first person gets to open a new one), or opens a new gift. > 4. From then on, whoever’s turn it is can steal someone else’s gift or open a new one. People who are stolen from may also steal someone else’s gift or open a new one. > 5. At the end, the first person gets to go again. They can keep whatever gift they currently have, or steal from anyone else. > 6. No steal-backs during the same round. That is, if you have something good and someone else takes it, you can’t just take it right back from them. But if someone steals your second gift later, you can then steal your original gift back from the person who has it. > 7. No single gift may be stolen more than three times. This rule was instituted in a previous year where a particularly desirable gift was apparently stolen practically every round. > > If someone has the bad luck to unwrap a particularly lousy gift, they’re probably stuck with it. The only way to get rid of it is if someone else decides to steal it from them. When you’re stolen from you have a free choice of any of the currently unwrapped gifts or any of the remaining wrapped gifts. So although someone can get stuck with a bad gift, this can only happen if they chose it from the selection of wrapped gifts themselves. No one can be forced to take a gift that’s already been opened and revealed as bad. Isn’t this the White Elephant type? And it takes for-freaking-ever, as in don’t promise anyone you’ll be home before New Year because you’ll break their heart… ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/51 "2009-12-21T19:35:37Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > At a previous job (where everyone was making a lot less money) I once wound up with a large can of hairspray, and NO ONE wanted to steal it from me! Another year I got a box of canned green chile peppers, which was kind of weird but I gave them to my mom and she used them for cooking so they were at least useful. I got one of those lovely candles you get at the Mexican grocer with the Virgin Mary on it one year. That one has since been regifted, and I think I’ve seen it recently at one of those. But for kids…I think it does need to be very clear that this is either all gag gifts or no gag gifts - or better yet - these are Boy Scouts - no gift for the boys themselves - bring a toy for toys for tots or a food shelf donation. (My Girl Scouts are going caroling at a group home tonight - its never occurred to me to get them presents - if anything - in our “reduce, reuse, recycle” program we are on - with a healthy dose of community involvement - it seems counter productive to what we are trying to teach them.) ---
**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:** [December 21, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/52 "2009-12-21T19:44:59Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Hey, as a girl, I’d be pissed at a spatula. I mean, come on. SPATULAS? That’s not just a shitty gift, it’s almost surreal. Spatulas for a BS gift exchange. Mmmmkay. (I’m wondering if Mom sells Pampered Chef for a living?) :dubious: Strangely enough, my cousin and her husband (the same cousin I mentioned above!) got their kids spatulas and mixing bowls as one of the kids’ presents last year. The kids LOVE to pretend to cook. On Christmas Day, her daughter Maddie kept serving us her homemade “pancakes” (aka, my aunt’s coasters) I have a feeling that Barbie will end up beheaded. Or hopefully Mom and Dad will give it his sister and get him an extra G.I. Joe or Transformer or something. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/53 "2009-12-21T19:45:31Z")
As a former Boy Scout, I would just like to say that it is stories like this that remind me that there are a lot of people involved in Scouting that desperately deserve a solid punch to the groin. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/54 "2009-12-22T00:07:49Z")
> [@Astroboy14](#): > > Joke time! > > Why do women wear makeup and perfume? > > 'Cause they’re ugly and smell bad!! > > Thank you! I’ll be here all week. Tip your waitress! See, I’m not a humorless feminist. That was funny! And I’ll refrain from going into a series of musings on why women’s natural faces will presumably scare people on the street, but men’s won’t. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/55 "2009-12-22T00:09:56Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, maybe somebody went nuts at Spatula City. Goddammit, you beat me to it! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/56 "2009-12-22T00:25:56Z")
In that “everyone draws a number” procedure . . . is it considered gauche to trade back for your own gift? I was in a Christmas ornament exchange in which I really hated the tacky ornaments everyone else brought. So when I was the last to exchange, I took back the one I had brought. Everyone said it was a very gauche thing to do, and the following year they made a rule prohibiting it. And to the OP: if it were a Girl Scouts event, would you object to sports equipment or tools? Shouldn’t boys have a use for a set of spatulas? (Personally, I’d love to receive a Disney Princess alarm clock . . . but that’s just me.) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/57 "2009-12-22T00:29:27Z")
> [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](#): > > See, I’m not a humorless feminist. That was funny! And I’ll refrain from going into a series of musings on why women’s natural faces will presumably scare people on the street, but men’s won’t. You kidding? I walked past a blind woman the other day, and she tried to gouge her ears out. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/58 "2009-12-22T00:38:42Z")
The boys in my troop would not complain about spatulas, but then again we consider Cooking to be an Eagle required merit badge! The barbie clock, however, would result in much hazing of the poor soul who either brought it (unless brought on purpose for the goal of punishment) or the poor soul who received it. A good Scoutmaster would make the whole thing a fun joke, however, to ensure that no feelings are hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/59 "2009-12-22T01:15:24Z")
> [@Pullet](#): > > I can understand having a gag gift exchange where everyone agrees to bring something stupid if it’s a group of teenagers/adults. But gradeschoolers? Just mean. Gradeschoolers? Most Scouts are probably middle-school age, which–ahh–does not make it better. At all. By the time I was a freshman in college, where most of the guys were at least eighteen, a couple of people in my dorm suite had to make trips home for their Eagle Scout induction ceremonies, so, yeah, some Scouts are a lot older than grade school age. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045/60 "2009-12-22T02:21:51Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Not these days. Back then they could have stayed but well the other boys might have made them a bit unwelcome. Unwelcome? They were our Senior Patrol. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-boy-wouldnt-love-a-disney-princess-alarm-clock/522045.md?page=4)