"Vacuum cleaner is a horrible gift.'" Is this an

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I spent christmas with my family, and they were all discussing horrible gifts they had gotten.
My uncle brought up the time he gave his wife a box of crackers and a can of cheese. We all had a good laugh about that.

But then somebody said, "Well at least you didn't give her a vacuum cleaner."
And everybody started laughing hysterically and agreed that a vacuum cleaner was a horrible gift to give a wife. I didn't laugh at all, because I didn't know what was so funny.

I don't understand why a vacuum cleaner is a horrible gift to give to a wife. I would love to recieve a vacuum cleaner. They are expensive. But they make chores so much easier, and therefore make life easier. It's very hard to misplace it, because it's so big. It's something you could use every day. What a perfect gift!

Can someone please clarify?

Oops, the topic was supposed to read: "Vacuum cleaner is "a horrible gift.'" Is this an NT thing?

It's better than receiving a pack of underwear, IMO. I see nothing wrong with a vacuum cleaner. Like you said, they're expensive.

It might be seen as an assertion that you believe it is her task alone to vacuum, which many would find insulting. A vacuum cleaner is something a husband or wife buys for themselves collectively, not as a gift for the other person.

However, if you're friends with a couple who live together and their vacuum cleaner doesn't work properly, buying them a new one for them would (I imagine) be appreciated greatly.

hello cleverkitten, heres my 2 reasons why i think some people think a vacuum is a horrible gift, 1. because of the saying "this gift sucks" can be taken literally (well vacuums do SUCK in dirt right?? )

2. it can also be interpreted as the giver "subliminally dropping a hint" saying "your house is dirty, please clean more often and here's a vacuum since you appear to not be able to offord one"

there is someone I known about 8 or 9 years ago i think would smile from ear to ear if he had a new vacuum, some kid (hes now in high school i believe) named Ben, I think he had autism or aspergers and i once met him while cleaning out my grandmother;s house, he was riding his bike and happened to see my grandma's dirt devil supreme (red upright vac) caught his eye and he was asking all these technical questions about it and talking about the canister and "sled" vacs he has. I would like to meet up with him again and communicate with him, but im not in the neighborhood anymore accept on weekends while going to stores.

You didn't relly understand the joke of it. It means that when you give a woman a vacuum cleaner , she has to vacuum a lot, you give the message ''yes, baby, that's going to be a lot of vacuuming, since I bought you this gift''. It's like giving someone a toothbrush, with the result the person who gets it gets annoyed because he thinks he has to do extra brushing. Hard to explain. I know it's not logical, but people tend to think that way. Of course a new vacuum cleaner doesn't mean the wife has to vacuum much more than before, but people associate a vacuum cleaner with nasty and horrible cleaning work, so they don't appreciate it. I hope yopu understand now; it's hard to explain, and English is my second language so I might be not that clear.

I agree with you CleverKitten, I would be very happy to get a vacuum cleaner. It's a very practical, expensive gift. Plus the one I have now is broken.

And, I wouldn't have gotten the joke either.

Did someone here say vacuum cleaner?
[youtube]http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=4wTg6yB2PRA[/youtube]

I can recall my mother hating receiving practical gifts.

She'd explain to dad how she really wanted more romantic gifts on special occasions. Her examples included perfume and jewelry. She'd also mention how hard she works all year and wanting to feel taken care of and special for at least a couple of days.

Haha, whenever I recieve perfume, I usually don't like it. (Except if it smells absolutely delicious, like cupcakes or cotton candy.)
Jewelry is nice, but I don't really wear it often.
To me, those kinds of gifts, although somewhat nice, do not take much effort or thought at all, and do not show that a person cares. It's a "one-size-fits-most" kind of thing. And if it cost alot of money, then same thing, only more was paid for it.

But I'm also Autie, so perhaps many people will find my thinking to be very backwards.

I love practical gifts, because to me, they take thought and it means that somebody was actually paying attention. If my toaster is broken (or if I don't even have a toaster), then by all means, gimme a damn toaster!

I find this thread amusing .

I agree CleverKitten, it is an ace gift. I have one, though one of those all purpose ones would be a nice gift. Anyway, I realise many things in social interactions have this hidden meaning, that the more 'socially dyslexic' will not get or will have to think about for a while to begin to appreciate and still can't say, with confidence, that it is this or that.

Most of the previous replies identified possibilities, anything from possible sexism (if given as a gift to a woman), 'your house is dirty' or (if you live with that person) 'so you could clean better for me' etc.

We are prisoners of our perception prisons, there is a school in sociological theory (phenomenology) that is concerned with "how common-sense knowledge is produced, disseminated, and internalized." A quote:

http://hss.fullerton.edu/sociology/orle ... nology.htm