People Share Some Of The Strangest, Most Awkward Gifts They've Ever Received

I'm not trying to intentionally downplay the concept of "it's the thought that counts," because in many scenarios, simply giving a gift at all really is all that matters. Still, there is a fine line between "the thought that counts" and "clearly, no thinking was involved at all."

Not every gift you give is going to be a home run for the recipient, and there's not much use fussing relentlessly over "the perfect gift," but as these Reddit users shared when asked, you don't want to completely disregard the thought process involved in picking out the perfect gift. Don't make things weird.

1. Maybe next time just don't?

“One year, I came home for Christmas, and my mom had been asking me what I wanted for Christmas. I told her I didn’t want anything; I had everything I needed and asked her not to get me anything.Well, come Christmas morning, there were a number of gifts with my name on them. We always hand out all the gifts first, and we each had a pretty decent pile.We always start with the youngest and go up, so I was like third or fourth in line, and everyone had pretty normal gifts: gloves, PJs, usual winter gift stuff.My turn comes up, and I probably have maybe eight or nine small packages to open. I open the first one, and it’s a box of Hamburger Helper. I laughed and said, “Uh, thanks, Mom,” and then I continued. After three boxes of Hamburger/Tuna Helper, there were a couple of cans of Chef Boyardee and SpaghettiOs, and I’m like, “Do you think I’m not eating or something, or are you trying to kill me? What’s with all the random food?”Her response? “No, I just felt bad that you didn’t have anything to open on Christmas! You can go put those back in the cabinet when you’re done.”Thanks, Mom.?”

2. That's a whole personality.

“My uncle is notoriously cheap. One year, he gave me a magazine that had Ichiro Suzuki on the cover. It was a free magazine (as it stated on the bottom of the cover). Another year, he also gave me a free t-shirt he had gotten for running a race. Possibly the best was the birthday gift he gave my dad one year: a McDonald's Happy Meal toy.”

3. Clearly very used.

“Maybe not the most WTF, but at my old company, we had a Secret Santa gift exchange. The manager drew my name and gifted me a very clearly used zoodler. He proceeded to explain, in front of everyone, that he thought I would have more use for it, as he only ate “real noodles.”I don’t work there anymore.” tenor

4. The obvious companion for the winnings.

“A co-worker of mine won a radio show contest where people were invited to describe the crappiest office gift they ever got. My friend was the secretary of an IT company, and her boss gave her a plastic bowl for Christmas.And it wasn’t even a nice plastic bowl. The first time she put it in the microwave, it melted. She won the contest and got a $100 gift card to Outback Steakhouse. Her boss insisted she take him since it was his crappy gift that caused her to win the contest.”

5. Sounds like Grandma was right?

“I got a three-foot-tall stuffed Mr. Peanut doll from my 89-year-old grandma for Christmas… when I was 23.She said, “I know how you like to collect things like this.” Not sure what she was talking about.I did kind of love it, though, and still have it 12 years later.”

6. Ding Dong

“An Egyptian pharaoh pen when I was in middle school. It was all gold-colored, and the pen barrel stuck out between his legs. Needless to say, I was mocked mercilessly by my classmates for having this massive Egyptian dong pen.” gifer

7. The gift that keeps giving.

“My little brother bought me a “How to Become a Male Model” DVD. I got drunk with my buddy and his girlfriend. We were laughing the whole time. Then she wanted to watch it again, and they had a fight over it.”

8. Just grab some random crap and call it a day.

“I was once given some yeast, a cucumber, and a pack of Toblerone for a Secret Santa.”

9. Congratulations?

“When I was accepted into my business college, they sent me a single sock.” giphy

10. Just something to look forward to.

“Christmas, 1993. I was eleven.My grandma gave me one half of a pool cue.She gifted the other half to my then-eight-year-old brother.Grandma: “See? You can only use it if you two cooperate and share!”We did not own a pool table.”

11. On second thought!

“I randomly went to some extended family Christmas event, and they gave me a woven basket. Within ten minutes, they had asked for the basket back. It “meant something” to them? I didn’t really care; I thought it was odd and funny.”

12. Monster in Law

“A lavender gift set (eye mask, cream, perfume) from my mother-in-law. I am severely allergic to lavender, and she knows this.” tenor

13. No thought involved.

“I have been disabled my entire life. It affects the footwear choices in my life. My mom has bought me dozens of pairs of slippers that I cannot wear, sometimes multiple pairs per year. I have given up at this point; I just give them away.When I was a teen, before I moved out, she also gave me embroidered dish towels with weird sayings.She also refuses to actually get my damn size and just holds clothes in the air and looks at them to decide if they look like they should fit.”

14. Thanks, loser.

“A cheese and champagne gift set that had the champagne and most of the other goodies taken out of it. So, cheese in a mostly empty box.”

15. Enjoy looking at it.

“When I was a kid (6 or 7), I had surgery on nearly all of the fingers on my dominant hand (the other hand came later!). It was scary surgery for a kid, though pretty simple, mostly boring, and a few weeks of pain. My aunt (whom I love) sent me a coloring book in the hospital as a “cheer-up” / “pass the time” gift.If it’s the thought that counts, I like to say, we should think hard…” mandatory