No Desire for Gifts Anymore

Well for my Dad’s side of the family on Christmas everybody buys a gift no more than 25 bucks and wraps it up. Then we draw cards to see who picks in what order and once you are called you randomly pick a gift or you can steal someone elses. A gift can only be stolen twice. Most of the gifts are usually gift cards which is pretty much free money.

I hear ya.

I came up with an idea last year where my wife and I each write down 3 things we’d really like for Christmas (has to be within reason money-wise) and then the rest of the gifts are picked by the other person.

This way, you really don’t know what you are getting (the 3 gifts are guaranteed) and you are more appreciative of what you get, especially if your spouse/significant other, pays attention to your likes and gets you something they know you’ll like.

My wife already has her 3 things, while I have no clue. The things I’d really like to have are too big-ticket and selfish, so I’m struggling to come up with things I’d like that are not going to break the bank.

I’ll probably settle for a couple of video games and anything else is groovy.

Vader, I’m right with ya on the gift cards. I live away from my immediate family, but thankfully I can still buy them gifts thanks to online shopping. Most places offer either free or discounts on shipping around the holidays.

Another thing that pisses me off is when people think they’re being thoughtful when they’re really just being dumbass.

My sister and I agreed on $40 per kid as we both have 3 kids. I get my neice and nephews $40 gift cards to Best Buy. My sister get my kids $40 worth of crap. You know it comes from the discount bin at whatever lame ass store she goes to. She gets them things like, ‘rock tumblers’ where you put rocks and water into this thing and plug it in and 3 days later the rocks come out like with rounded edges or something.

Last year she went to the Christian Book Store and got my kids t-shirts and bookmarks. I don’t even ask for the receipts anymore, but just throw that shit straight in the trash can and give my kids 40 bucks.

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
Welcome to adulthood.

Christmas/birthday gifts are for children.[/quote]

Absolutely THIS!

I don’t NEED anything and the stuff I WANT is too expensive to be given as a gift. I’d rather have someone give me a hug and buy me a beer…or two.

[quote]dre wrote:
I’d rather have someone give me a hug and buy me a beer…or two.[/quote]

2 beers, or 2 hugs? or 2 of each?

[quote]sen say wrote:
Another thing that pisses me off is when people think they’re being thoughtful when they’re really just being dumbass.

My sister and I agreed on $40 per kid as we both have 3 kids. I get my neice and nephews $40 gift cards to Best Buy. My sister get my kids $40 worth of crap. You know it comes from the discount bin at whatever lame ass store she goes to. She gets them things like, ‘rock tumblers’ where you put rocks and water into this thing and plug it in and 3 days later the rocks come out like with rounded edges or something.

Last year she went to the Christian Book Store and got my kids t-shirts and bookmarks. I don’t even ask for the receipts anymore, but just throw that shit straight in the trash can and give my kids 40 bucks.
[/quote]

Lol, this is hilarious.

For whatever reason I’m pretty lucky in that my brother and I have never exchanged gifts. It would be nice if I could extend that to my Mom, though. Every year she thinks she’s gotten better at picking out clothes for me. Next thing you know I’m dressed as a cowboy. No shit, I got a legit Stetson cowboy hat, boots, and some tightass bootcut jeans.

I live in center city Philadelphia.

[quote]sen say wrote:
dre wrote:
I’d rather have someone give me a hug and buy me a beer…or two.

2 beers, or 2 hugs? or 2 of each?[/quote]

2 beers are better than one while 2 hugs are not. Depends on who is doing the hugging.

[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
Lol, this is hilarious.

For whatever reason I’m pretty lucky in that my brother and I have never exchanged gifts. It would be nice if I could extend that to my Mom, though. Every year she thinks she’s gotten better at picking out clothes for me. Next thing you know I’m dressed as a cowboy. No shit, I got a legit Stetson cowboy hat, boots, and some tightass bootcut jeans.

I live in center city Philadelphia.[/quote]

I feel your cowboy gear pain. I took a year off from school after I graduated from High School. I started a landscaping company with 2 friends. We were making significant money (like the business grossed $100,000 our first year) and having a blast. Partying with our college friends while not having to put up with going to college. Chicks were readily available as we seemed a lot more mature than the college guys AND we had our own house unlike the guys in the dorms.

My mother and sister did nothing but bitch and cry about me not going to college and wasting my life working.

So, I was actually looking forward to Christmas as I’d been living away from home for a year and could have used some new clothes, toys and other junk.

Christmas morning…I show up at my folks. They greet me. All seems well. We go to open presents. I open my first gift. A pair of wool work gloves. My second present is wrapped very much like the first present. I open it. A pair of rubber work gloves. The third present…a 3-pack of red wool work gloves. Fourth present…etc…etc…I shit you not…I received 14 pairs of gloves. My brother and I were laughing our asses off. They literally went to Home Depot and bought every type of work glove they had available.

Next…mom brings out this big box wrapped up beautifully. I open it…fake-leather workboots…not even timberlands…they were like Kmart work boots.

Next…my sister presents me with a huge box…inside…3 sets of coveralls with my name embroidered.

The joy was not over…I received 8 or 9 hats, a bunch of socks and longjohns.

Finally, the mother and sister present me with this card where they each wrote about how they were sad I wasn’t going to college, but they supported my decision to ‘make a go of it.’

After I read the card outloud (which was totally maudlin and overwrought with emotion) my brother and I played dress-up in the coveralls and other assorted clothing. It was great because he’s like 100 lbs heavier than me so the coveralls wouldn’t zip up on him so he would use the hats and gloves and socks to ‘cover’ himself up and we made like I couldn’t recognize him because his coveralls said Sen Say and his name wasn’t Sen Say and it was really confusing having to reconcile this.

We ended up eating Christmas dinner dressed like this and talking about how thankful we were that we were nice and warm.

I think I still have a few pairs of the gloves they gave me. This was almost 20 years ago. Things have only gotten worse.

[quote]dre wrote:
Depends on who is doing the hugging.[/quote]

What if it was a late 1970’s Farrah Fawcett?

[quote]sen say wrote:
dre wrote:
Depends on who is doing the hugging.

What if it was a late 1970’s Farrah Fawcett?[/quote]

What if it was a late 1970’s Edith Bunker?

[quote]ukrainian wrote:
One of my friends has recently asked me what I would like for Christmas. Why so early? I have answer or even the slightest idea, but that is besides the point. The point is that I could not come up with an answer.

I have just realized that I do not have any desire for a material gift from anyone anymore. I am tired of being handed things that I did not work for. I want to actually start becoming independent, although I know that I won’t be until later. I want to start earning things on my own. (I would have a job, but football really prevents me from having any significant free time.)

When I was younger, I went crazy over Christmas, my birthday, and any other holidays that I got presents on. Now, however, I do not find any desire for the presents associated with these holidays. I now think of Christmas as more of a religious holiday for myself, and I don’t even care about my birthday besides that fact that it allows me to gain more responsibility.

No point to writing this though. I just thought that I would experience a feeling in my life that I thought would never come.

[/quote]

good for you man.

About 4 years ago my brother and I decided it was time for the adults in our family to stop exchanging gifts. It was really my idea but I needed my brother on board to out vote our mom. The last straw for me was when my mom bought me a deep fat fryer for my birthday. I told her I had no use for it so she took it back and got me a sweatshirt that says “Lord of the Dogs” with dogs dressed like they are in Lord of the Rings. My friends were devasted because they always looked forward to hearing what my mom got me for Christmas.

My mom protested and we pointed out that Christmas shouldn’t be about presents. She is still allowed to give the kids presents.

bpeck

[quote]EmilyQ wrote:
What if it was a late 1970’s Edith Bunker? [/quote]

The gift of being in an Edith B and an Emily Q sandwhich would never stop giving.

Here’s a standard list I’ve given She Say over the years. There’s a wide spectrum of prices. There’s some numbers missing because she got me those. I send this list to her everytime she says She or other people want to know what I want for a present:

  1. Boss DD-6 Digital Delay Guitar Effects Pedal - $159 NEW…can probably get one used for 80 - 100 bucks

OR

1A) Boss DD-3 Digital Delay Pedal - $109 new…can probably get for 50 - 70 bucks used

or

1B) Boss RC20 XL Loop Station - $250 new or probably half that if you can find it used

  1. What gift list would be complete without ‘fmf 3-sum’ or ‘bottom play’ on it ?!?

  2. Wine Chiller - Modern Furniture Store, Home Decor & Wedding Registry | Crate & Barrel $99.95 Crate and Barrel (on sale ! )
    There’s also one in Food and Wine as an advertisement that can hold 2 bottles at once and chill them to different temps…

  3. UTOPIA FISH PLATE $25 Modern Home Decor, Luxury Gifts & Mid Century Modern Furniture | Jonathan Adler

  4. Blow Job to completion in your mouth (no need to swallow)

  5. bartender book
    Modern Furniture Store, Home Decor & Wedding Registry | Crate & Barrel

  6. Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron 2.75 qt Covered Oval Oven
    http://www.cookswares.com/individual.asp?n=26543 (red one)

[quote]bpeck wrote:
My friends were devasted because they always looked forward to hearing what my mom got me for Christmas.

[/quote]

Mikey? Is that you? Remember that year she gave you 4 loaves of french bread, an italian baguette and a six blueberry bagels for your 15th birthday?

Who’d a thunk my kid brother was on T-Nation.

[quote]sen say wrote:
You’ve touched a nerve…

I recently sent this email to my family:

“Yo…‘Sister Say’ asked yesterday what I wanted for my birthday. I honestly REALLY don’t want anything and think we should disband giving each other presents. In exchange for material goods we could agree to let the gift-recievee get their way and not be subjected to any family torture on their gift-getting day, or if the gift-giver is feeling particularly generous we could expand that to a week.”

Now…there is a bit of smartass in this, but in reply to this email I got back from my brother:

“Why are you so bitter towards this family?”

I didn’t really know what to make of this. So I wrote back:

“I’m not bitter. I don’t have enough time to be bitter. I love everyone.”

To which he wrote back:

“Whatever”

On my actualy birthday, I got a 2 page epistle from my mother telling her she loves me and how ‘profound’ that is and she doesn’t know if I understand that and we should take a long lunch sometime and discuss it.

I had no fucking idea how to reply to that and still haven’t.

Anyway…giving gifts to adults on birthdays and at Christmas is gay, a waste of money and causes way more fucking problems than it is worth. I don’t fucking understand it.[/quote]

Whereas refusing gifts is sensible, easy, and makes everyone happy? :wink:

Just give your sibling some piece of shit to get the ritual over with. Buy them a second-hand toaster and they’ll be like “Oh, you shouldn’t have! You know I needed a toaster! You’re the best!”.

You can have fun pushing the envelope too, seeing how far you can go before they stop accepting things graciously. “Oh it’s a… vial of smallpox”.

My wife & I had to move 4 times in about 5 years & clean out 2 houses for older relatives (deceased/retirement home). I’ve started to realize just how much stuff can be utter crap.

To put a bit of a positive spin (still a little weird though,)on the hippie-dippie mindset, my brother- & sister-in-law adopted a ‘sister’ through Compassion International for my niece at Christmas (& for the last 7 years.) Because she has an international sister, guess what my nephews wanted.

We ended up conscripting Costanza’s Human Fund a bit, My wife & I figured out how much we could spend without massive debt, pool the money, & shop the World Vision catalogue for something cool.

Soapbox Alert
This year, our friends & family are getting to “Stock Medical Clinics”

https://catalogue.worldvision.ca/Gifts/Forms/Gift.aspx?giftId=1453

It’s one of those multiplier gifts where the money does something like 14 times what it’s worth, just by paying transportation costs on pre-donated medical supplies.

If one of my family members happens to be reading this, that’s what you’re getting. Sorry for spoiling the surprise. ;'0

On the gift card thing, they’re just worse than money. There’s the declining balance, and by picking a shopping location, you’re telling the giftee that you have no faith in their judgment.
Unless the cards are from Starbucks. I get about a January’s worth of coffee cards.

[quote]sen say wrote:

  1. Blow Job to completion in your mouth (no need to swallow)

[/quote]

This is the only gift men really want, anyway.

Sen Say, no disrespect intended.

I think your family is about an 8 1/2 on the ‘Rate My Disfunctional Family’ Scale. wow!
We need a new forum.

i turned 26 a few months ago and over the past few years have tried to give the impression that i am not interested in celebrating christmas, thanksgiving, easter, my birthday or anyone else’s birthday, i won’t give anyone gifts or congratulations and i expect the same in return

has made life a lot less stressful

[quote]jp_dubya wrote:
ukrainian wrote:
I am tired of being handed things that I did not work for. I want to actually start becoming independent

You aren’t a democrat are you?[/quote]

Nope.