By Valeria Bula
It’s Christmas Eve and the anticipation of what gifts you’re going to get is eating you up. However, let’s not forget that certain relative that never fails to come through with the least enjoyable gift.
It can be tough accepting these gifts and displaying utmost gratitude when you don’t want to be rude or hurt any feelings. Overlooking the glares your mom is probably shooting at you to ‘say thank you,’ there are ways to properly react to receiving a gift you don’t necessarily like.
Maybe your aunt knitted you the world’s ugliest sweater. Your cousin bought you a cheap candle. Your grandma bought you milk chocolates even though you’re lactose intolerant. Your classmate brought you the CD of a band you hate, nor do you have a CD player. At some point in life, everyone’s bound to receive a terrible gift— that doesn’t mean you should make the gift-giver feel terrible.
To start, say a simple thank you. Not a thank you with an obvious forced smile or an apathetic thank you that will make the gifter become suspicious or feel bad, a normal thank you displaying genuine gratitude as if you were receiving any other gift. Most importantly, don’t overreact or under-react. Don’t start squealing or getting emotional or act overly awkward or show blatant, furious dislike— it will only make your distaste obvious.
In addition to this, make sure not to say any phrases such as, “This isn’t what I wanted,” “You can’t be serious,” “What is this?” or “What were you thinking!”
Don’t blatantly ask for the receipt either. Give it time and make it casual.
Another tactic to make your gratitude seem sincere is by complimenting the gift. This could range from a simple “Oh, how nice!” to mixing it up and asking questions as to why they bought it— this may prevent the gifter from asking whether or not you would use the gift.
For example: “This is a cool CD! Have you heard it yourself? What’s your favorite song?” or “I’ve never had a sweater like this. When did you learn to knit? How long did this take you to knit?”
Another take could be actually being honest about the gift. Though this may be the most unattractive alternative, sometimes, given the person is close to you, they may even replace the gift seeing it as an honest mistake.
More likely, you will lie and say you will use it even though you know you won’t or pretend you love it. Nothing wrong with boosting someone else’s self-esteem.
Worst case scenario, you can always just re-gift it. Bad presents can almost never go to waste, all you have to do is wrap it up again and you have a quick and easy solution to any upcoming birthday or holiday for someone you’re not particularly close to. Or maybe someone who really does like knitted sweaters.
So remember, always show gratitude and accept the gift like a good person. You never know, you may just be lucky and it was nothing more than a bad Jimmy Kimmel prank or something. Remember it’s the thought that counts, though some gifts can really be terrible.
