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maifleur01

Floof: Cringer gifts

maifleur01
4 years ago

Seeing all of the well loved gifts I wonder about any what I would call cringer gifts. Both those that always made you cringe and those that made you cringe then you discovered how nice they actually were.


We always kept separate personal accounts but I cringe when I see a spouse or significant other purchase things like cars or other big ticket items where they were probably not paid for by cash. Most of my husband's gifts were practical but I still have not figured out what he wanted me to do with the several sizes of drop punches that were one of this last gifts to me.

Comments (23)

  • kathyg_in_mi
    4 years ago

    What is a drop punch?

  • graywings123
    4 years ago

    Was wondering the same thing. Maybe it was auto-correct for drop cloth?

  • maifleur01
    Original Author
    4 years ago

    I honestly do not know what it is used for. I was given several, 4-5, some with the name Drop Punch others with the name Spring Loaded Center Punch. Various shapes and sizes. They are a tube with a heavy weighted cylinder on the inside that has a pointed metal spot in the middle of it. Some the pointed metal is about an inch long other just barely protruding from the metal. Some with a spring others not. You raise the center. Let it drop on something and a small dent appears or according to the web glass breaks. The web states they are to break glass. But he got the idea from a tv show. Since he gave me several sizes something beyond me. Only told me it was something I needed.

    I do remember my dad had a deep dent in the top of his head from someone dropping a center punch from a walkway above him. Since he worked as a plumber-pipefitter I do not think the ones in use there were to break glass. They will leave a small dent which could be used if I was doing leather work but that is not something I do.

  • patriciae_gw
    4 years ago

    My first husband did not like your telling him what you wanted. He wanted to find the "perfect gift" with no input so If I wanted something particularly I had to avoid any hint. It was not a workable system as he was horrible at guessing what I might like.

    I too wonder what a drop punch is.

  • amylou321
    4 years ago

    SO prefers for me to pick out my own gifts,though he has usually picked out good ones for me on his own. Its just easier for him to ask me how much I need to buy my present for whatever occasion and hand over the money for me to order it I guess. He's picked out all the jewelry he's bought me, he picked out dear Sammy, and he picked the car he bought(in cash) for me. As well.as lots of little trinkets that I treasure. The only things I havent loved have been some clothes he picked out. Though I should have been flattered. One item was a pair of Alabama Crimson Tide shorts that were way too small, ridiculously so. I kept them anyway,because I am sentimental like that. He got them for me,so I want to have them.

    Oh,and he got me a car wash brush set once. He definitely uses it more than i have, which is never.

  • Olychick
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    My worst gift was from my MIL. She lived in Southern CA and we in WA. She called, so excited that she'd bought a desk for us and was refinishing it, for our new house (in the 1980's). Old oak, heavy, in great shape, really unusual top. I have my grandmother's mission oak table and buffet, so it sounded perfect. They rented a trailer (or maybe they had one) and hauled that thing all the way up here. She was giddy about it.

    When they arrived, omg. What was she thinking? The unusual top was that stuff that's like particle board only big swatches of shaved wood glued into a sheet used in construction. I don't know what you call it. But it shouldn't appear anywhere but inside a wall! I don't know what happened to the original top, but someone had replaced it with this stuff. You couldn't write on it because the surface was so uneven. The desk probably weighed 200 pounds and was so ugly! It wasn't nice enough to put any money into a better top, but it was functional for storing things in the drawers. We hid it upstairs in a spare room that we dubbed the "office" so as to not hurt her feelings. And the desk wasn't oak, it was pine.

    eta: I googled to try to figure out what it was...strand board. Looks like this:

    I don't mean to sound ungrateful, lol.

  • Fun2BHere
    4 years ago

    OMG, Olychick...that really was a clunker!

    I can't really think of any cringe-worthy gifts that I've received. I'm sure there have been some, but I'm of the "get rid of it right away and forget about it" camp. We've moved so many times that if someone wanted to know where some gift is, I can always honestly say that it was probably lost in a move.

  • Iris S (SC, Zone 7b)
    4 years ago

    My mother in law loves everything with big, loud flowers. And lace. So I did get curtains, chair pillows and a bedspread. She was really offended I didn’t use them, but I just couldn’t. I also did get about a dozen Christmas pillows over the years from her. She was still miffed last Christmas about my saying absolutely no more pillows the year before. My sister in law loves crafts/ art projects, but she is really not good at it. They usually also don’t have any purpose. I do put some of them that are holiday themed on the shelves for a few days a year.

  • nicole___
    4 years ago

    My SIL tried to guess what size I was...and purchased the most childish winter flannel PJ set for me, in an extra small. Couldn't put my arm up the leg!

    My sister gave me a hand woven, Navajo looking, Pink poncho. A tube of "Nicole" brand hair conditioner. And a paper mache doll, with a big dent in her face. She said it was ALL a gag gift. It just creeped me out....

  • jmck_nc
    4 years ago

    My mother is the queen of bad gifts. When I was pregnant with my first son, she gave me a "beach/pool cover up". One of those terry dresses with crochet top that "older" ladies wore in the 80's. It was totally not anything I'd wear, was white, stained, and would never fit over my pregnant belly...which was her stated purpose (cause you have to hide that). When I showed her the stain she said it was from so and so's garage sale and we could get that stain out. My pregnant hormones let her have it. She is STILL bad at gifts, 30 years later. Mostly because as a narcissist she gets you what she thinks you should have or what she really wants for herself. There, I feel better now...my birthday is next week, so I'm ready!

  • Michael
    4 years ago

    Drop punch? I've never heard a centering punch called a drop punch. I use them to mark metal or wood for centering the bore and creating a dimple for accurate boring with a drill bit. When using a center punch on metal, the dimple keeps the bit in place.


  • clt3
    4 years ago

    My MIL made us a macrame dog. I was very happy when the real dog got ahold of it and chewed it up. She is also the queen of bad gift giving.

  • Judy Good
    4 years ago

    We solved that problem years ago, no more gifts. We buy want we want. Although throughout the year he and I will surprise each other with things that we have heard each other want. Just this week I surprised him with a tablet. He had been talking about it a while. He is real good about going to the store and bringing me surprise snacks!


  • nickel_kg
    4 years ago

    I try to purge thoughts of lousy gifts I've received and given ... (I'm sure I meant well, but looking back, !!!) Pass unwanted gifts on to someone who will appreciate them, is my philosophy.

    I had two elderly relatives who loved big-eyed Precious Moments and Snow Baby ornaments. Neither one visited us much at Christmas, so they didn't have to know we didn't use them. (Sentimental me kept one PM and one SB in honor of these two sweet women, but I still don't display them.)

  • janey_alabama
    4 years ago

    My ex husband bought me a new guinea pig cage for Christmas. Of course he did not understand that I was furious when I told him that was a gift for Patches' & Poncho not me. And 30 some years later, he is still single. :)

  • Kathsgrdn
    4 years ago

    Lot of bad gifts over the years but the one I can remember is my ex MIL gave me a pack of men's t-shirts (those thin ones like Hanes) in her son's size. I opened it and said something like "oh, here, you now have more t-shirts" and gave them to her son right after I opened them, in front of her. I'm such a b____.

  • terilyn
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Our first Christmas together I got new sneakers and a radio. I was less than thrilled. Also, regarding the comment about extravagant gifts, my gift of the car was paid for in full at the time of purchase.

  • chisue
    4 years ago

    When I see ads for 'craft' stores (like Michael's) I cringe. I think of the vast amount of landfill already made and yet to be created.

    Unless you are professional-grade talented -- and we have a few such KT members -- please STOP! Restless hands? Knit and unravel. Paint and paint over. Do not mistake polite praise for honest appraisal. (Think of the ad where the mother is lauded for having made tapioca pudding. lol)

  • maifleur01
    Original Author
    4 years ago

    Michael that is similar to a couple of what I received other than the center thing had a flange. You may call it what you want but when the box calls it something I will go by that name. I still have no idea what I would ever use it for.

  • nicole___
    4 years ago

    Terilyn....I think a Porsche is an extravagant gift....but not because of how it was paid for. (anything over $100 is a big deal to me lol) I hope you enjoy every minute of owning it! It sounds like a wonderful gift to me!

  • Yayagal
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Not bad gifts but useless to me. Each year my sister in law give us Xmas gifts. So far she has given me a high-end tennis racket and the case which had my name on it. I don't play tennis, never ever. Then she buys size1X clothing, jackets, etc. I wear a size 10. another time a vacuum cleaner, we have three already. Gave my husband, her brother, lol all xxl items. He's 6 feet and weighs 170. It goes on and on. I've told her they are too big and she apologizes and does it again the next year. Once she brought us a giant jar of guacamole, neither of us like it. We are close so I never make a big deal of it. Just say thank you.

  • arcy_gw
    4 years ago

    I have hated the idea of gifts and exchanging gifts for sooo long I can't remember one that wasn't "cringe"/useless or unnecessary. At the moment I have a $50 gift certificate from my boss in my purse. I have been in the store monthly since Christmas. It is a "gift" shop. Their stock changes with the seasons. I have found NOTHING I would pay the price they want for let alone much of anything I would really care to have in my home. A co-worked ASSURED him I would LOVE the opportunity to shop/buy there. sigh. Somehow she missed the truth that I hadn't been in that store in our small town for over 10 years!!!

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