15+ Unforgettable Gifts That Made an Everlasting Impression

Gifts are undoubtedly delightful, but sometimes instead of joy, we feel a whole range of emotions: from awkwardness and embarrassment to sheer indignation. Probably, each of us has received a gift that seemed to have stepped off the pages of an absurd story. We put together 15+ stories from people who don’t know whether to laugh or cry. In this article, there’s a “taken back” car, a cunning mother-in-law, and even socks with holes.

• Started dating a guy, and he decided to give me a present — a trip to Switzerland. He said he’d organize the entire program himself. Turns out, he arranged hiking tours in the mountains. Every single day! I’m not too fond of that kind of vacation, walking 12 miles every day is too much for me. I suggested we mix it up and visit the city, maybe go to a museum. He threw a fit over it, blamed me for everything imaginable, saying that I would never have a chance to see such a beauty again. But I’m from a country with mountains and have been there more often than anywhere else, and he knows this. © Overheard / Ideer
• My classmate promised me a gift that no one has ever given before. He was working on it for a week, didn’t give it on my birthday, and kept saying afterward, “Well? Are you truly ready?” I expected anything but a poetry reading. © suunsv / Instagram
• I bought a gift for my friend’s wedding, but it turned out I couldn’t attend, so I said the gift would remain with me until I could give it to them. But as time passed, I couldn’t think of a suitable occasion to give or send the gift, considering he’s now a family man, and I’ve never met his wife, I thought they might take it the wrong way, and I didn’t want to intrude on someone else’s family. I was worried that the bride wouldn’t approve of the idea to meet and receive a gift. This was 2 or 3 years ago. Antony, if you’re reading this, the gift is still waiting for you, please take it, I’m embarrassed to contact you. © burlacova_art / Instagram
• We were playing Secret Santa as a group. Everyone bought and picked gifts, but I was told, “Oh, Lisa, the delivery is delayed, but I’ll send it to you by mail once it arrives.” She asked for my address, all set. 10 days went by, and I asked, “Where’s the gift?” and was told, “Oh, it’s still at the sorting center.” Another 2 weeks passed — silence. A month later: “Oh, I’ve found out everything, it was sent to the wrong address, let me redirect it.” I’m like, “No problem.” Yet another month passed, I said, “Should I stop waiting for my gift?” And since then, the message hasn’t been read, and silence. © gerzenka / Instagram
• My ex gave me a glass candle. Said he made it himself. I was, of course, a bit upset: couldn’t even brag to my friends about it. But I couldn’t bring myself to use it. Only after the breakup did I light it for the scent and went about my business. The wax melted, and at the very bottom, there was a silver ring. And I hadn’t suspected a surprise like that all this time.

• That’s how a friend of my husband congratulated us on our wedding day. He said, “Bro, I forgot to withdraw money, I’ll transfer it to you.” It’s been almost a year, and he’s still in the process of transferring it. © vika_konfeta / Instagram
• I am currently in a similar situation. I couldn’t make it to my friend’s birthday, congratulated her, and promised that I would still give her a gift. I ended up buying it, and now I’m carrying it around in my car for the second month, but we can’t meet up. Well, we did see each other at another friend’s birthday, but I didn’t think to bring her gift with me. But I will give it to her, I promise. © shumkova8874 / Instagram
• For 3 years, my mother-in-law gave me pieces of bedding as gifts. First, it was pillowcases, then sheets. In the third year, when half of the set had already worn out from use, she gave me a duvet cover. © Albina Alexandrova / ADME
• For as long as I can remember, my mom never liked receiving flowers as gifts. She would say directly, “I’d be better off if you gave me a bar of soap; it would be more useful.” So, one day, I gave her a large bag of soap. It was heavy, of course, but at least all the bars were different sizes. © ADME / Dzen

• This year, my husband and I turn 30 years. I prepared for his birthday in advance: searched for a good restaurant, called and invited relatives and friends, thought about the gift for a long time, denied myself many things for several months to buy him a good gift. Finally, I found the perfect watch from a pricey brand. But not only did my husband carefully shift all birthday preparations onto my shoulders, he also gifted me socks with cutouts for all my toes. It was so upsetting, I was in tears, and he just doesn’t understand why I didn’t like the gift. © Overheard / Ideer
• My mother-in-law gave us her 2-year-old neglected and untrained dog. My husband and I discussed it and took it in. I treated, fed, played with, and trained the dog. Very quickly, the dog became mine instead of ours. Your dog sheds, your dog is sick... And it’s all my fault. I truly loved her, but I couldn’t live like that anymore, so I gathered all her belongings and sent my happy husband to return the “gift.” A few days later, the mother-in-law was begging me to reconsider, and she had nagged my husband so hard, that he’s the first to run out for walks with the dog now. © Overheard / Ideer
• Once, my kind dad promised me to buy a large inflatable killer whale, like a mattress, for finishing the 2nd grade. But when we went to the store, he suddenly liked a 2-seater boat, and he bought it! And there I was, 3 feet tall and 60 pounds, inflating this monster for several dozen hours for a single trip to the sea, then deflating it because storing that beast in the apartment was impossible! Additionally, it turned out to be leaky, so on the water this disaster would collapse under my weight. © Overheard / Ideer

• I'm a girl from a low-income family, dating a wealthy guy. He constantly gives me expensive gifts, takes me to fancy restaurants and shops, despite all my protests. I decided to give him a present too. To buy it, I got a night job as a janitor cleaning toilets at a chemical plant. As a result, my boyfriend and I are on the brink of breaking up because he thinks I'm cheating on him at night. If I tell him the truth, he won't believe me and will laugh, saying it's a "lame excuse." © Overheard / Ideer
• What do people usually give newlyweds at their wedding? Money in an envelope, household appliances, and so on. My uncle apparently decided to show off and gifted... A PONY. A live pony. It’s standing in the backyard now, and we're wondering what to do with it. © Overheard / Ideer
• My girlfriend is afraid of spiders. I sometimes like to scare her with them, but not real ones, just pictures, like wallpapers on a phone or computer. Recently, we went down to the basement of the house, and a rat ran past us — I screamed like crazy. Anyway, now our shared laptop has a picture of a rat with a spider in its mouth, I got birthday gifts wrapped in paper with rats, a soft toy rat, and a bunch of paper rat confetti. I'm expecting rat-themed socks for our anniversary and planning to gift a spider-shaped pendant. © Overheard / Ideer
  

• My wife is from a small town 50 miles from mine, where we currently live. Her parents gave us a large horizontal fridge as a wedding gift. At the time, I wondered: what for? But my mother-in-law threatened that she’d kill us if we sold it. A month later, it all became clear when they brought us meat, dumplings, homemade sausages and salami, preserves, and vegetables and fruits. We started going to the store only for bread and cleaning supplies. Now we’re thinking about buying a garage — the family is growing, and so are our supplies. © Overheard / Ideer
• I remember we were celebrating a colleague’s birthday at work. She was turning 30. And one coworker recited a poem to her, quite a long one, congratulating her with her 40th birthday. Everyone was silently baffled, only a colleague and I were laughing out loud. © Tatyana Pashchenko / VK

• When I was 19, my boyfriend gave me a car. That evening I took a friend for a ride. The next day he texts me, “Actually I don’t have a car to drive to work,” and took it back. My dad laughed so hard! It’s still a family joke to this day. © sashasolar / Instagram
• March 8, I had given birth 2 months prior. My ex-husband said my gift would arrive the next day. The next day came, and it was already evening. Instead, he threw a fit at me. A couple of days after we made up, I asked where my gift was, he said, “You shouldn’t have nagged me, I canceled it.” © j.qgross / Instagram
• 101 tulips delivered to work. It would have been fine if this same guy hadn’t borrowed from me exactly the amount the bouquet cost just 3 hours earlier. Never returned the money. © dianahasanovna / Instagram

Gifts say a lot about the giver, and those promised gifts say even more. After these stories, it becomes clear: sometimes it’s better to receive a modest but sincere present than to face a slew of empty promises. And while these situations may upset us, they certainly don’t make us any worse. What’s worse in your opinion: what isn’t given, or what is taken back later? Share your thoughts in the comments.

And these people shared the most shocking gifts they received for Christmas. Check them out.