I can't really think of a worst gift, I think I've erased them from my memory. At least I've never gotten this...
Man Says He Gave Wife Toilet Seat As Gift
LONGMONT, Colo. (AP) - Gary and Karri Clark haven't forgotten their second Christmas together. He knew she wanted bathroom accessories, so he wrapped up a couple of gifts and waited.
The toilet seat and towel rack didn't go over too well.
``Here I thought I was doing good,'' he recalled with a laugh. ``It was something she can always use, day after day. It's the gift that keeps on giving.''
The Clarks were among those who responded to requests by the Daily Times-Call newspaper to share their stories about bungled gifts and best intentions - the waffle makers, blenders and vacuum cleaners given with love and practicality in mind that will never be forgotten or forgiven.
Karri Clark admits she wanted a new toilet seat a decade ago because there was a crack in the old one. She just didn't think she'd get one gift wrapped.
``I could not believe it,'' she said. ``What man gives you a toilet seat for Christmas?''
Stan Stanley said he learned his lesson about practical gifts in the early 1980s after presenting his wife with a garage door opener one Christmas. There was no entrance from the garage into the house, a source of irritation for Connie Stanley.
``I was so excited about opening it. I had no idea what it was,'' she said. After 57 years of marriage, she said, she has to forgive Stan when he makes a mistake like that.
Tom Tinkle remembers giving his wife a birthday blender and how she did a wonderful job of oohing and aahing before setting the box aside. When she finally took the blender out of the box, she discovered a sapphire bracelet slipped inside.
``It was a surprise for her and possibly made her rethink her opinions of her doofus husband giving her a bonehead blender for a gift,'' Tinkle said.
Gary Clark admits his bathroom gifts were out of desperation: It was Christmas Eve, he was at Kmart and he couldn't think of what to buy his wife.
``She wanted it, but not for Christmas,'' he said. Since then, he's done better: His wife received a Ford Explorer for her birthday this year.