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Christmas

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I really hate it when you give people a gift for Christmas and they rudely hand it right back to you - has this happend to anyone?

109 replies

JacksFirstChristmasMama · 29/11/2008 21:39

Right. My stepdad has done this on several occasions. Last year I spent quite a bit of time picking out a gift for him - a buckwheat-filled pillow because he's always complaining of neck pain from sleeping - and he opened it, looked at it, said "I don't like this" and handed it back to me. I was gobsmacked. Literally speechless. In the ensuing silence (because everyone else was as stunned as I was) he said, "you can get me a book instead".
WTF?????

Has this happened to anyone else???? What did you do??

Several days later I had a chance to talk to my mum about it alone, and even just talking to her completely lost the plot at his ignorant fuckwittery. All she could say was that she knew how I felt, that he's done it before, and no, she did not blame me in the least for not being arsed to worry about buying him a present next year.
It is now "next year".
I'm tempted to give him the proverbial lump of coal.

OP posts:
JacksFirstChristmasMama · 26/12/2008 18:08

Just want to report that there was no handing back of presents this year... no, it wasn't because he didn't get anything [frgin] - we all took the high road and banded together to give him a heated vest (it's a vest with heating threads in it and a tiny little battery pack that goes in the pocket) because he's always cold. It's kind of like an electric blanket except it's a vest --- anyway, he loved it... so... we'll see what happens next year!

OP posts:
sheena1 · 26/12/2008 18:53

Hi do u know where i can buy a heated vest and if so give me a link my papa is constantly cold and its his birthday soon xx

JacksFirstChristmasMama · 26/12/2008 22:10

Absolutely, here you are: Brookstone Catalogue, Men's Heated Vest.
I just checked and it looks like they ship to the U.K.
If not or if there is a problem, you could order it, have it shipped to me (I live in Canada) and I'll post it to you.

OP posts:
Nighbynight · 26/12/2008 22:29

safety in numbers. clearly the best solution, you clever thing.

JacksFirstChristmasMama · 26/12/2008 22:35

He did love it though!

OP posts:
AphroditeInHerNightie · 27/12/2008 07:31

you could do with a remote control for that vest so you could ramp up the volts and electrocute the ungrateful fecker

GreenMonkies · 27/12/2008 08:05

I'd have given him a book on manners.

Seriously, I would!!

Dior · 27/12/2008 08:27

Message withdrawn

reindeersnake · 27/12/2008 08:42

Yes, amazed at your forebearance, although I suppose upsetting him would only have hurt your mum.

It could have been the perfect opportunity to stop presents for adults altogether though, and just 'give' people the famous OXFAM goat/chickens/latrines etc. Think of the reduction in stress!

(Careful with goat with children, though. I did a fundraiser with my class once to buy a goat and they were so enthusiastic they raised enough for 17.5. They were very disappointed not to get the goats delivered to the classroom, though. They seem to have imagined gift wrapping them! But great lesson in global citizenship for Jackson.)

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