# Your most worthless Christmas gift (this year.) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 27, 2009, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700 "2009-12-27T12:56:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/101 "2009-12-29T16:54:53Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > I did buy a used cookie press a couple years ago with some neat fancy cookie plates. Hey, I have one of those! I used it to make Christmas cookies this year. What a pain in the ass. šŸ˜› (The cookies were good itā€™s just that clean-up is a mess.) ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/102 "2009-12-29T17:27:45Z")
I made a batch of home-growed cupcakes this year that were greeted with cheers and huzzahs. Bestest cupcakes ever! So what did I get from Mr. OCD? A 24-cup mini-cupcake pan and six, yes, six expensive, glossy recipe books on how to make cupcakes? šŸ˜• Dude. I KNOW HOW to make cupcakes, I donā€™t need six $20+ cookbooks on the subject! You only like vanilla or chocolate. Am I really supposed to make 24 mini rum-and-prune cupcakes with fondant butterflies? Or did you just buy them because you thought Iā€™d like lookinā€™ at the purdy pictures? Why doesnā€™t anyone every give ME an Applebeeā€™s gift card? Iā€™d be there the next day and Iā€™d enjoy it a hell of a lot more than 90% of the useless crap I got this year. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/103 "2009-12-29T17:30:39Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Why doesnā€™t anyone every give ME an Applebeeā€™s gift card? Iā€™d be there the next day and Iā€™d enjoy it a hell of a lot more than 90% of the useless crap I got this year. You can have mine in trade if one of those books is [ā€œVegan Cupcakes Take Over The Worldā€](http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Cupcakes-Take-Over-World/dp/1569242739/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262107805&sr=8-1). šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/104 "2009-12-29T17:48:58Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Just another beat on the ā€œIā€™m going to dieā€ drum that my mother has been beating regularly for (holy christ, has it really been?) 30 years, and which has dominated all communication with her for the last ten. Awesome. Yeah, I get the ā€œPlease, can we have christmas dinner at my house this year? It might be my last Christmasā€¦ā€ from my mother. She also gave me a battery-operated candle. Battery. Operated. Candle. She gave my daughter, who is such a tomboy she wonā€™t wear anything with even a smidge of pink or lace or ribbon or whatever, a pink sweatshirt. The very, very best gift I got this year? Even better than the laptop and the french press coffee maker? It was my 7-year-old daughter hugging that pink sweatshirt to herself _as though it was the thing she wanted most in the world_ and saying, ā€œThanks, Grandma.ā€ Iā€™m actually slightly teary even thinking of it. ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/105 "2009-12-29T18:05:06Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Whatā€™s with all the hate for these things? Am I the only one who lives in a 160 year old house with elusive and difficult to eliminate cold drafts? 100+ year old house, without a speck of insulation, and huge windows that just pulsate with waves of cold (storm windows notwithstanding). Yes, I too want a Snuggie. All you ungrateful wretches can send your unwanted ones to me. Tnx. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/106 "2009-12-29T18:06:01Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > _snip_ > > She also gave me a battery-operated candle. Battery. Operated. Candle. > > _snip_ I bought myself a couple of those and I love them but then I have cats and I worry the young one would knock over a real candle while it was lit and then burn my house down. The ones I bought though have good smelling wax around the inner guts so it still smells nice like a real candle. I didnā€™t get any lame gifts this year. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/107 "2009-12-29T18:28:59Z")
In retrospect, Iā€™m going to renominate what I posted from the first page, the cold virus passed along to my husband and I by our friendsā€™ three-year-old daughter. Whatever kind of nasty thing has been keeping her a snot factory for a long time, and already infected and passed through our friends, ended up keeping my husband and I out of work yesterday because we were just that miserable. Normally during colds I can do stuff, but yesterday was spent propped in front of my computer, sipping soup and tea. My first act in the morning after trying to clear out my sinuses in the shower was swallowing a couple Aleve to dull the pain of my brutally sore throat. So I canā€™t complain a whole lot. We did get out of seeing insane father-in-law this year since weā€™re estranged from him and thus the family gatherings by extension, and that pretty much warms my heart. However, I got the flighty, probably-still-an-addict sister-in-law as my Secret Santa so weā€™ll see if I get a present at all, much less something worthless. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/108 "2009-12-29T18:55:00Z")
> [@Tahssa](#): > > I bought myself a couple of those and I love them but then I have cats and I worry the young one would knock over a real candle while it was lit and then burn my house down. The ones I bought though have good smelling wax around the inner guts so it still smells nice like a real candle. OK, I think I am just unclear on the concept. I thought it was just a candle-shaped thing that lights up, but perhaps it is actually cooler than I think. Iā€™m not really a candle person, but I can see why my mom would think that an electric one would be safer than a flamed one, what with 2 smallish children about. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/109 "2009-12-29T19:21:23Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I particularly like the vignette in the TV ads where the whole monastery goes to the local peewee league soccer game and does the wave. I so want to get my friend a pink one for her mini-Dachshund who is always cold, but I fear sheā€™d hurt me. I may do it anyway. Weā€™re going out for New Years Eve and maybe if I wait for the booze to kick in before the unveilingā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/110 "2009-12-29T19:25:32Z")
> [@Katriona](#): > > I so want to get my friend a pink one for her mini-Dachshund who is always cold, but I fear sheā€™d hurt me. I may do it anyway. Weā€™re going out for New Years Eve and maybe if I wait for the booze to kick in before the unveilingā€¦ My husband was teasing me about the pet-sized ones, as I (by her request) bought Mom a pink Snuggie for part of her Christmas present, and he said since Iā€™d bought one already, I should continue down the path. Our ferret is losing fur on her tail and back due to adrenal disease, and I insisted that if it got to the point where she was noticeably cold, Iā€™d either knit her a tube-shaped sweater or buy some really nice and thick polyfleece and machine sew her a custom-made tunic-type outfit. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/111 "2009-12-29T19:28:06Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I know what youā€™re talking about because I had one, similar, only a parrot. Is this it? > [[http://remarkabletreasures.com/Photos/auction](http://remarkabletreasures.com/Photos/auction) Listing Thumbnails/7-5Pelicans.jpg]([http://remarkabletreasures.com/Photos/auction](http://remarkabletreasures.com/Photos/auction) Listing Thumbnails/7-5Pelicans.jpg) > > The e-bay store where I found this picture had dozens and dozens of eye-popping enamel trinket boxes of every animal imaginable. I canā€™t find the exact one, but yes, those are very similar! Unfortunately I donā€™t have the technology to post a photo at this time. I must also confess I encouraged one of my children to give my grandma a Snuggie. Hey, all she does is watch TV and go to church, we were at our witā€™s end! The other child got grandma an extremely cringe-inducing romance novel. Now Grandma can be warm and read her book. ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/112 "2009-12-29T19:52:59Z")
I was gifted a pair of toe socks. I unwrapped them, saw what they were, and I immediately got goosebumps. I am pretty sure that my teeth began to curl, too. I detest toe socks. _:: shivers ::_ ---
**Author:** ![sharding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90db22/32.png) [@sharding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sharding)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/113 "2009-12-29T20:12:53Z")
We bought dog Snuggies for a couple of dogs in the family, purely as a joke. The dogs wear them without complaint, but they donā€™t fit very well (or maybe we just havenā€™t figured out how to attach them correctly). At least on these dogs, the back end is so loose that the dog ends up stepping on it while he walks, eventually undoing all of the velcro. This illustrates my main beef with the Snuggie: the quality is very poor. I donā€™t mind the concept ā€“ just the execution (especially since some of the competitors are apparently higher quality, but the only one anyone has ever heard of is Snuggie). ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/114 "2009-12-29T21:19:38Z")
Spectre, a Mac game for my PC. Little sister thought it was compatible as the format was listed on the side of the box as ā€œCD-ROMā€. To be fair, she was compelled more by the [looks of the box](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21H86FmHexL._SL500_AA170_.jpg) than the specs and screenshots. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/115 "2009-12-29T21:26:32Z")
No complaints on the Christmas gifts this year. However, when we got married, we got something fantastic from one of my husbandā€™s more religious relatives: a Jesus suncatcher. My father-in-law let loose with a ā€œwhat \*is \*that?ā€ After which, my husband held it up prominently and declared, ā€œDonā€™t you recognize your Saviour?ā€ It was hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![JerseyFrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@JerseyFrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyFrank)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/116 "2009-12-29T21:28:33Z")
The daycare that my kids go to (once a week) does a Christmas thingā€¦ They have the parents send in $1.07 for every gift that weā€™d like our kids to give to people. The employees go to the dollar store and pick out a bunch of generic gifts. The kids then go in with the list and the money and ā€œbuyā€ us gifts from the ā€œstoreā€ at daycare. My daughter (age: 3 years) got a gift from her brother (age: 8 months). Unable to pick the gifts himself, the kind folks at the daycare selected appropriate gifts for him to give. So hereā€™s my daughter unwrapping her giftā€¦ it was a holiday themed box that you might put a small present or hand-made item in. The box was empty. She cried. ---
**Author:** ![Magicicada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c67d28/32.png) [@Magicicada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magicicada)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/117 "2009-12-30T02:14:56Z")
> [@JerseyFrank](#): > > The daycare that my kids go to (once a week) does a Christmas thingā€¦ They have the parents send in $1.07 for every gift that weā€™d like our kids to give to people. The employees go to the dollar store and pick out a bunch of generic gifts. The kids then go in with the list and the money and ā€œbuyā€ us gifts from the ā€œstoreā€ at daycare. > > My daughter (age: 3 years) got a gift from her brother (age: 8 months). Unable to pick the gifts himself, the kind folks at the daycare selected appropriate gifts for him to give. So hereā€™s my daughter unwrapping her giftā€¦ it was a holiday themed box that you might put a small present or hand-made item in. The box was empty. She cried. Um,yeahā€¦Fail. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/118 "2009-12-30T02:33:10Z")
> [@The\_Vorlon](#): > > Hazel, that would be uderā€¦no, I canā€™t go thereā€¦ > [@Juliana](#): > > You absolutely should wear it. Milk it for all itā€™s worth. šŸ˜ƒ :rolleyes: šŸ™‚ We actually have a stuffed animal - a cow complete with udders - that came with a cocktail I ordered on our first date - so I suppose it would even be appropriate. I also got a vibrating, massaging HAND thing from one of my cousins. (Itā€™s supposed to be for oneā€™s shoulders. Yeah right.) With my boyfriend being gone Iā€™ve been horny as hell, so the minute I opened my present, my mind was filled with lustful thoughts not fit for a family gathering, and I had to stop myself from laughing hysterically in front of my innocent relatives. ---
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/119 "2009-12-30T02:42:48Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > We bought a Snuggie as a gag gift for our family goofy exchange. My daughter and son in law were given Snuggies as a serious gift. In Pink and Blue. To their credit, they didnā€™t bust out laughing when they got them. > > I swore if I ended up with the Snuggie in the exchange, it was going to be turned into dust ragsā€¦ Why is a Snuggie considered a gag gift? I get that they kind of make you look like youā€™re wearing a cult-fashioned robe, but, I would luuurve to get one. I am constantly snuggling under blankets, and hate having to wrestle my arms out to do stuff. I guess Iā€™m part of the 0.5% of the population it was marketed towards. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700/120 "2009-12-30T08:10:56Z")
I wish I got a snuggie this year. Iā€™m always cold, and itā€™s difficult to cuddle under a blanket and type on my laptop at the same time. Anyway, my dad always gets each of a us a gift card to Wal mart. He sends it in an unsigned card and it usually arrives 3 days after Christmas. Itā€™s evident that he just barely cares, but at least a Wal Mart card is _useful_. Especially this time of year. I can make $50 stretch a long way at Wal Mart. This year, we got our cards on time (and they were signed. Must have been courtesy of his new wife). Unfortunately, each one contained cards to Applebees. I ate at Applebees once in my life. Nearly 10 years ago. I just donā€™t get it at all. If he absolutely had to get us cards for restaurants, why Applebees? Why not, say, Red Lobster? (A restaurant weā€™ve actually eaten at together). Iā€™ll probably never use these and Iā€™m really, really sad that the $50 I was counting on based on the past 10 years is gone. I would really rather he not bother at all. I mean, if he really doesnā€™t give a fuck, why canā€™t we just be adults about it and drop the pretense? Maybe Iā€™ll just use the card to get drunk. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-worthless-christmas-gift-this-year/522700.md?page=7)