Gift Exchange Extravaganza
I have gotten kitschy gifts from girlfriends; things like chocolate bars, and stupid books, and to be honest, I did not mind. If they took the time to put some thought into it, or at least write and adorable note, I was pretty happy.
With that in mind, my worst Christmas gifts have come from these online gift exchanges I participate in. These only work if everyone puts some effort into the gifts they buy; not everyone does, however.
During a book exchange, I got a used mystery novel (nothing to do with my stated interest) that came with a note “Sorry, I am a poor college student and did not have the time or money to really shop.”
I stopped doing the gift exchanges for a year after that. Then I joined up for a record exchange and hit the jackpot: I got two records that really matched my interest, and the person really put a lot of thought into the gift. Awesome.
After the record exchange, I decided to give the Secret Santa exchange a shot. I received a used comic (the list price was 2.99 new) without any note. The strange thing is, this person spent $6 on shipping so it would arrive on time. I was furious.
I was not expecting an expensive gift, but was hoping for one with some thought behind it. Crap, if they sent a well thought out letter and $5 something homemade, I would have been happy. Sadly, I won’t be doing gift exchanges after this.
In case you are wondering, they never wrote a follow up issue to the comic, it was a 25 page comic without any continuation of the story. Story credit: Reddit/JohnWH