Ho, ho, ho, pandas, what did Santa leave for you under the Christmas tree this year? Was it the present that you wanted? Or maybe it was Krampus who visited you and left you with a big pile of disappointment?
In that case, don't be too sad knowing you're in good company. These people from the r/AskReddit community have found some duds under the Christmas Tree too. The user SwirlyStarrs asked netizens to share what's the worst gift they received and the answers ranged from cringy to downright offensive. Perhaps Krampus possesses some people to gift empty boxes and library books that are soon to be due?
We were lucky enough to be able to chat with the person who posted this question on r/AskReddit. SwirlyStarrs agreed to have a brief chat with Bored Panda and tell us more about her reasons for posting this question.
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The Reddit user SwirlyStarrs tells Bored Panda why she asked other people about their worst Christmas presents. "To be honest, I was inspired by having trouble getting a gift for my grandma. She's so difficult," the Redditor says.
The amount of answers involving horses surprised the author of the post. She even left a comment under one of the posts: "A surprising amount of these stories include horses/ponies." SwirlyStarrs tells Bored Panda that she was somewhat shocked by how many answers there were about horses.
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Some people feel a lot of pressure during the Christmas season because they feel they have to get the right gift for everyone. The Redditor says that ideally, giving gifts shouldn't be this way.
"I don’t think gifting in and of itself should be a lot of pressure, but it just is sometimes," she admits. "I think it's worth it if the person likes the gift that you spent so much time on." SwirlyStarrs also says she believes she's a good gift-giver. "I love getting people gifts, and I feel like I’m decent at it."
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Let's face it, when it comes to Christmas presents, we've all received a stinker or two. I, personally, never know how to react without offending the giver. True, in some cases the gift might be so offensive and cruel that you might want the culprit to get some of their own medicine. But what about cases when the person didn't mean to offend and just missed the mark?
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Diane Gottsman, an etiquette expert and founder of the Protocol School of Texas told CNBC that adults should accept unwanted gifts with grace and class. She claims that we're not thanking the person for the item itself. "You’re thanking them for the effort. The gift is secondary. It's the thought and the effort and the love that counts."
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How to react face-to-face depends on your relationship with the giver. If it's not a family member, a simple "thank you" is enough, even if you don't plan on using the gift. If it's someone close to you, you might want to let them know politely.
If it's an item of clothing that doesn't fit, ask them if you can switch it for the right size. Gottsman says you wouldn't be out of line when asking someone you're relatively familiar with.
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Gottsman also told CNBC that you should write a thank-you note to the person who gave you the gift. Doesn't matter if you think it's useless or bad – you should still thank them for thinking of you and putting in the effort.
After that, etiquette dictates that the item is yours to do with as you please. You can either donate it or re-gift it. Be careful not to hurt anyone's feelings with re-gifting, though. Gottsman has a saying for these instances: "I always say, regift in another city."
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