Women Are Sharing Stories Of Getting Vacuum Cleaners And Other Household Appliances As Birthday Gifts, And I'm Ready To Start A Revolution
Today's internet story that I found highlights a scarily common issue in relationships where husbands buy their wives impersonal, last-minute, and highly offensive gifts — and it MUST END.
Here's the full story from Plastic_Cat9560's own words: "Title says it all. Turned 50 yesterday. My husband (53, male) woke me up and told me he had a surprise for me downstairs. I go downstairs and see a vacuum, not even wrapped, mind you."
"He said he thought I’d like a new one since the current one doesn’t have the ability to turn off the brush roller when used on hard floors. I never asked for a new one. It works fine."
"That was my birthday. Not even a lunch or dinner out. He mentioned a month ago about doing something special and going on a trip. I asked about that, and he said he figured I’d tell him when and where I wanted to go."
"He never asked where, but did mention several times over the past month he had a surprise for me. Apparently, it was a fucking vacuum. We’ve been married 17 years."
"Am I the asshole for hoping or expecting that maybe he could have planned and surprised me with something? Anything? Something more than an Amazon next-day delivery vacuum?"
"When he turned 50, I took him to Hawaii. Maybe I’m just being hypersensitive. Turning 50 has been a hard number for me. Parents and grandparents all passed in that decade."
Absolutely zero commenters had any sympathy for the husband and agreed he should've done much more for his wife of 17 years.
"I’d be devastated, too. It’s not about the vacuum; it’s about the complete lack of thought and effort," user gabr1ela0120 commented.
"A 50th birthday is a big deal, and he knew that — especially since you did something amazing for him. I'd have a serious talk with him about how this made you feel because this isn't just a 'bad gift' issue; it's a 'he doesn't seem to care' issue."
User VegetableBusiness897 suggested the woman get a little petty for her husband's next birthday:
"Regift him the amazing vacuum on his next birthday, unwrapped, of course."
Unfortunately, women receiving household items as gifts seem to be extremely common. One commenter claimed their father bought their mother "towels and kitchen knives" for Christmas and got an earful.
"My dad got mom towels and kitchen knives one year. That's the Christmas that lives in infamy. Hearing mom scream 'I CAN'T WEAR KNIVES' through a closed door lives rent-free in my head," user DelishySoup wrote.
Another commenter said they purchased and hand-wrapped holiday gifts for their entire family, and their husband ended up gifting them diet pills:
"My husband did this several years ago. We had 2 young children at the time, and it was our youngest’s first Christmas- so the in-laws and BIL/SIL were staying with us. I had purchased and wrapped every gift for everyone, including a few small things for myself. Christmas Eve day, my husband and his brother go to Costco to get a pie and presumably get out of the house and away from the chaos. My husband proceeded to start and finish his Christmas shopping for me at Costco 20 minutes before they closed. These were his Christmas gifts to me that year: 50 plastic hangers, 4 mismatched bath towels, a pair of yoga pants, diet pills," user azreadhead85 wrote.
And lastly, this commenter shared a similar story about their male cousin gifting his wife a "Yeti cooler bag" and "four dinner plates" after she customized his motorcycle gear.
"The first year after they were married and had their first baby, my cousin’s wife gifted him some really nice customized motorcycle gear and some sentimental trinkets like a custom photo album and his favorite cologne, and we were all watching and going AWWWW. And he gifted his wife a Yeti cooler bag and some random crap (like 4 dinner plates in a color they don’t use at all, lmao) that he very obviously just walked through Costco collecting at the last second. His wife was super polite about it, but we could tell she was welling up and about to cry. His own mom grabbed him and dragged him out front to hand his ass back to him verbally. I believe he now makes it a point to talk to his wife and ask what she wants first," user FartAttack911 said.
Yikes. I want to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
