Christmas Gift #Fail

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! I celebrated mine locked up in the apartment as the wind blew and the snow fell. For nearly 2 full days, much of North Dakota saw the roads in a “no travel advised” condition. I94, I29, and Highway 83 were all shut down. Today we got to dig out. Of course, here in Bismarck, many people still remain stuck at home, because the city leaves a lot to be desired when cleaning the side streets. (my little home town would at least make a single pass down the middle of the street, giving you a chance to get somewhere).

Anyway, I haven’t seen any of my family in over a week, when they all just happened to be in town. I’m sure somebody got me a present, but I have no idea what it may be. Nevertheless, I’ve had a lot of time to think the last couple days, while I should’ve been serving up blog posts for you. Something that amuses me as I look back, is bad gifts.

Not that people don’t put thought into these, but most people who think they know me really well, don’t know me very well at all. I have one friend who is a notable exception, but we’ve been thinking alike for nearly a decade. It’s odd, because as Apple guys, we’ve been taught to ‘Think Different.’ Oh well.

Anyway, the bad gifts. Some just boggle my mind. Like cookbooks. I know how to cook, and I can cook pretty well. But I don’t like taking a lot of time to do so. If it takes more than 10-15 minutes, you’ve lost me. So why people give me cookbooks year after year astonishes me. I never use them, some of them I’ve given away to other people who want them. I’m sure there are some fantastic recipes in them, but if I want to cook something new, it will be something I see somewhere, and I’ll find the recipe online. Beyond that, most everything I make is something I memorized how to make years ago. If you want to give someone a cookbook, think of my sister. She’ll use it. somebody else.

Some gifts could be good, but they’re just horrible timing. Or they don’t serve enough of a purpose. Or both.

I once got an electric ice scraper. Typically, as a gadget lover, this would be amazing. However, I got that 3 days before I left for Iraq. And it doesn’t really scrape. It has the basic shape of an ice scraper, but it has a coil like you’d find in an oven. That coil will scratch glass, leaving me unable to actually scrape ice with it. It also takes a really long time to warm up. I learned this from the one time I was able to use it. We had a huge ice storm come through, and when I went home 2 weeks later (that’s right, the one time I needed it, it wasn’t with me), I used it to get the ice off of my mirrors. It took about 20 minutes to do both mirrors, holding it flush to the mirror until the ice softened enough to attack with a real ice scraper.

Side note: The year I went to Iraq was the same year I was given (in total) a dozen packs of playing cards. The only cards I play are solitaire and free cell, very rarely, and on the computer. This is not a secret.

Perhaps the most bothersome thing about those gifts is that they all came (though the cookbooks still come) when I was sending out wish lists (I still add to my Amazon wish list throughout the year, which needs to be cleaned up). I did all the work, creating a web page with a prioritized list including pictures, a link to the cheapest place I could find it, and a link to Amazon. I’d send out an email to everyone who might possibly get me a gift (though few ever did, which is totally fine and probably better, there are better people to spend money on than me) and…….

…never once did I get anything on a wish list. They weren’t extravagant. Nearly every item on them would be under $30. But, as they say, it’s the thought that counts.

I’ve gotten some good gifts too though. I don’t really play Operation Simpsons, but I take it along to parties and other people love it, which is great. I’ve been given some fantastic movies too, Boondock Saints springs to mind.

But not having gotten any presents yet this year, I still have hope that among them might be The Smashing Book, or an electric can opener, or cash. Cash would be fantastic at this point in my life.

But none of it really matters anyway, does it? The point of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who came to earth to die for our sins, that we all might have the opportunity to gain eternal life in heaven. As commercialized as this holiday has become, we tend to forget. But Christ’s birth is one gift that didn’t fail, and I hope we all remember that.

But for everyone’s entertainment, hit the comments. What are some terrible gifts you’ve gotten? How about some great ones?

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