Family drama is no stranger to the Dr. Miles Intervention, and today we're diving into the world of gift-giving. Is it required of the recipient to always be thankful for receiving a gift?
A woman wrote into the popular Dear Abby column to reveal that her sister has been "returning" the gifts she's given her (aka just giving them right back!) for the past 40 years!
The column reads:
I am the youngest of eight children. My oldest sibling, "Lois," is 72. She is in the habit of returning "gifts" she says I gave to her as far back as 40 years ago. (She doesn't want to deal with getting rid of the items herself.) I think this is extremely rude. Lois does this only with me and one other sister.
Most of the time, I don't even remember the gift, or I already have one of the items. She'll usually attach a "sweet" note to it to make me feel guilty for not keeping it. She will also send it to me via another family member. I try to tell her to pay it forward to someone who could use or enjoy the item, but she ignores me. How do I get her to stop this?
— GIVE AND TAKE IN TEXAS
This brings us to our Dr. Miles Intervention this morning: Is it rude to return gifts? If it's constantly (especially over a 40 year period), does that actually say something about the gift-giver? It's her sister after all, shouldn't she know what she would or wouldn't like?
Or is the sister just completely being unreasonable by giving gifts back for the past 40 decades? Should she, or anyone who has received a gift they didn't like, just suck it up and accept it?
By the way, here was Abby's response:
You can't get Lois to stop, so stop trying. When it happens again, find the humor in it and donate the item to a thrift shop. (Or rewrap it and gift it to another relative for Christmas or a birthday.)
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