As I reach for a pair of socks in my sock drawer, my hand grabs on to something that feels soft and small. I quickly pulled out my hand and realized what I had grasped. It was a pair of purple and white socks that looked as though they had been created for baby elves. “Where did these come from”, I think to myself. Then it hit me. I was holding the socks that had been given to me for Christmas a few years earlier by my older brother. I remember saying, "I can't believe that that I still have these ugly things.

As soon as I received the gift, I instantly thought that it was the worst gift that I had ever been given. First of all, the socks had a price tag on them that said clearance: $2. My parents had given each of the kids a limit of ten dollars a person that they would pay for. My brother gave me a $2 gift and kept the rest of the cash. Next, (keep in mind that I was fourteen years old at the time and wore a size 8 in women's shoes) the socks were a size 3-4 in little girls. I couldn't get them halfway over my foot even if I tried. He could have at least asked me what size I wore and bought them so they would actually fit over my feet.. Last but not least, the color and length were nasty. They were purple and white and they went 2 inches above my ankle. My least favorite color is purple and I hate socks that are a weird length. There is never a good time to wear socks that go two inches above your ankle, either go bigger or go smaller. In the end it hurt my feelings that he was so inconsiderate and did not care at all about getting me something that I liked. I honestly think he walked to the little girls section and picked the first thing he saw.


Although my gift was bad, it could have been much worse. My friend who shall not be named (Jessica Alvey), had been given a much worse gift than I. Her uncle gave her a gift that even I would have never guessed. He gave her a used pool vacume. First of all, why a vacume? Was it something that he had laying around at his house or something that he found at a yardsale. Either way I can't imagine what was going through his mind. "Oh looky here! A used pool vacume! My sixteen year old niece would love this even if she doesn't have a pool!" I imagine that he thought something like that. Next, why would you get her a USED pool vacume. If you are going to get her something random that she is unable to use, you might as well get it new so she can return it. And when you get used presents it makes it seem like they didn't put any thought into your present and they grabbed something that was laying around. Either way, I am glad that I am not her!

I am sure that others have received much worse gifts that Jessica or myself, or even none at all. So I am still grateful that I got something at all. It was still a dumb gift that required little or no thought, but at least he didn't just skip out on getting me a present in general. It could have been much worse. I would have been very upset if he had gotten everyone in my family a gift except for me. Either way it makes for a good story and it helps me to write a revised scribble!