Weird presents

[Liesje]

Anyone get anything odd?

I did. On my mom's side, the cousins all trade names with one other cousin. I asked for practical stuff since I'm going to Africa, so my cous got me a gift bag with things like Purell, extra rechargeable batteries, a disposable camera, and....a big box of generic brand anti-diarrheal tablets. My relatives were like wtf, is she kidding you? But it will probably be a practical thing in third world Africa, no?

 

[anitram]

You will pray to the Imodium Gods, I can almost guarantee it. Be smart about what you drink over there. That was a great gift.

Purell is not something I advocate, generally speaking.

 

[indra]

Hahaha! That's a good one.

My paternal grandmother used to give my siblings and I unwrapped bars of soap (not just un-Christmas wrapped, but totally naked). I wouldn't have minded, except that all the rest of the cousins got some type of clothing or toys -- generally something they wanted. And she also once gave all her daughters or daughters-in-laws handmade dresses -- guess what my mom got? Yup. Cloth. Does that say "Shit List" to you?

 

[BluRmGrl]

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Better than the canned salmon & jar of peanut butter my brother-in-law's maternal grandmother mailed him for Christmas one year.

Swear to God - true story!!!

 

[indra]

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Better than the canned salmon & jar of peanut butter my brother-in-law's maternal grandmother mailed him for Christmas one year.

Swear to God - true story!!!

I think grandmothers are the queens of weird gift giving!

 

[lmjhitman]

Purell is not something I advocate, generally speaking.

Just curious, why not? I sometimes use this, especially since I am a teacher, often working with very cute, germ-filled children!

 

[A_Wanderer]

Live off sardines and bottled water, thats my advice.

 

[u2granny]

I think grandmothers are the queens of weird gift giving!

I gave my grandaughter a doll, a Dora computer program, and two "princess" lip balms tied to the package. She carried the lip balms around all day.

 

[verte76]

That's a little out of the ordinary, but I'm sure you'll find it useful in Africa.

 

[Liesje]

Purell is not something I advocate, generally speaking.

How come? I don't like it either; I HATE the thought of putting something on my hand b/c it's "dirty" and then NOT rinsing it off. Also, I've always been under the impression that most of the bacteria it kills are harmless or good and Purell isn't necessary. I don't really want to use it, but the travel nurses said to get it.

As for drinking, it'll be nothing but bottled water or other bottled drinks. I don't like anything besides water and pop anyway (and never get ice in my pop).

 

[AvsGirl41]

My aunt's gifts are always dreaded. No one knows what she's thinking when she buys them, and the saddest part is that the money she spends would be better put to a gift certificate or something. And that's if she spends money, often she gives us things from lost and found.

The one year was really memorable--my sister got a 10 piece puzzle from L&F, and I got a Ramona Quimby diary meant for a 6 year old. We were both *well* into our teens. My cousin got a toliet brush. (I think it was really a back scrubber, but it looked like a toliet brush.)

 

[Mr. BAW]

Just curious, why not? I sometimes use this, especially since I am a teacher, often working with very cute, germ-filled children!

I meet and interview ALL KINDS of persons who think nothing of coughing in their hands, wiping their noses and then expect a handshake before you leave..I reach the car and whip out that Purell before anything else...discreetly but Purell it is!

No weird gifts for me though but my daughter did get me U-2 Best of 1990-200; ironically, just the day before we found a scratch in ours so it worked out...

 

[PinkHairBaby]

i got a calculator for christmas this year..it's one of those presents where i had to fake liking it .."wow..a calculator! what i always wanted!"

 

[anitram]

How come?

Because if you look at the log scale reduction of bacteria after use, it is not that effective, and secondly, it makes no distinction between foreign and endogenous species which can live on your skin and provide a number of benefits.

 

[Liesje]

Because if you look at the log scale reduction of bacteria after use, it is not that effective, and secondly, it makes no distinction between foreign and endogenous species which can live on your skin and provide a number of benefits.

Woohoo! I was right! Now I can tell my mom someone who actually knows about germs and medications and such says the same things (in a smarter way!).

Now, do you think it's bad b/c it doesn't really do anything or b/c people assume it does do something and they miss other more effective ways they could be cleaning their hands?

 

[anitram]

People don't wash their hands for long enough. Soap them up for at least 15 seconds.

But basically, I think it's a huge waste of money to buy these products. When you read that it's 99.9% effective, what does that mean, statistically speaking? That you have had a 3 log reduction in the number of bacteria. That would be huge if you had 4 bacteria sitting on the surface of your skin, but when you can have hundreds of thousands or even millions, what's a 3 log reduction doing for you? Not much.

If you are a hospital worker, you cannot avoid it, and it's a good idea to double up sterility when working around immunocompromised people. As for the rest of us? I think it's basically useless. And it severely dries your skin because of the alcohol content anyway.

 

[shrmn8rpoptart]

once my aunt gave my mom a ziplock bag full of my grandmother's hair so that "we could make a pincushion or something"

 

[indra]

once my aunt gave my mom a ziplock bag full of my grandmother's hair so that "we could make a pincushion or something"

Oh my. That is REALLY weird.

 

[IWasBored]

once my aunt gave my mom a ziplock bag full of my grandmother's hair so that "we could make a pincushion or something"

that's fucking crazy.


i was going to say, well, i got some long underwear and a keychain super-bright flashlight thingie yesterday (i have a sucky memory and can't really remember specifically what i've recieved other than music-related things in the past), but now i'm thinking that's not wierd at all. sure it's useless, i don't go camping regularly or anything, but not as bizarre as that.

 

[LoveTown]

the weirdest gift I ever got turned out to be the sweetest and most treasured gift I ever got.

One year as I sat opening my gifts I picked up an odd shaped one, wondering what it was. When I opened it it was a strange piece of yellow plastic. As I slowly turned it over and over in my hands I suddenly realized that it was a piece of my 2 year old nephew's train tracks. The little guy had wrapped up a piece of his very favorite toy and given it to me.

Of course I gave it back to him so he could continue to play with his beloved train but I will never forget the honest and pure love that went into that gift. He is nearly 15 years old now and not a Christmas goes by that I don't stop and remember that very special present

 

[Saracene]

When he's not just giving us cash for presents, my Dad always gives me rather bizarre gifts. Once gave me a set of 30 plastic multicoloured combs, most of which has such huge teeth they were virtually unusable. The other time he gave me a full atlas of Japan published in 1950s (that was just before I went on a trip there).

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

As I slowly turned it over and over in my hands I suddenly realized that it was a piece of my 2 year old nephew's train tracks. The little guy had wrapped up a piece of his very favorite toy and given it to me.

aw, that is so sweet

The weirdest one I can remember was a sweater from my late grandmother that was about three sizes too small. She always gave her least favored grandchildren gifts like that and the others got great ones

This year my Father gave my Mother a laptop, even though she already has a 1 year old desktop, is retired, and never travels. He thinks extravagant = good. She's bringing it back and getting a Coach handbag, which would have been my suggestion for a gift, because she's never had a luxurious purse like that.