BF doesn't like his gift

[jais]

A little background:

BF LOVES catapults.  No idea why, he just always has.  He jokingly asks all the time if he can build a catapult when we buy a house so that he doesn't actually have to take the trash out.  In all honesty, he's probably talked about his 'thing' for them at least a few dozen times that I can remember.

Thursday was our  2 year anniversary, and I didn't know what to get him. He is also notorious for being a hard to shop for person.  While looking some stuff up online, I found this:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/warfare/8530/

When he got it, he got this strange look on his face and asked what the **** he's supposed to do with it. 

Okay, fine, you don't like it, I can't get it right every time.  That being said, he's bought me some REAL stinkers as far as gifts are concerned.  I, have used/displayed them all as I love him and his heart was in the right place.

Am I wrong to feel that he could have been a bit more gracious?

He now claims he loves it, he just wishes I had one so we could 'fight'.  GRRR!!!

[jimithing]

I don't even like catapults but I think that is a cool gift!  I've done that with DH.  He wants a Harley Davidson motorcyle, but it will never happen.  I did find a Collector's Edition miniature and gave it to him the Christmas after we got engaged.  He was graciuos but I could tell he didn't really care about a miniature one.  Come to think of it, it has been a while since I've seen it.  It's bound to happen again, and like you said, he's not done too well in the gift department either. 

[sparksals]

A little background:

BF LOVES catapults.  No idea why, he just always has.  He jokingly asks all the time if he can build a catapult when we buy a house so that he doesn't actually have to take the trash out.  In all honesty, he's probably talked about his 'thing' for them at least a few dozen times that I can remember.

Thursday was our  2 year anniversary, and I didn't know what to get him. He is also notorious for being a hard to shop for person.  While looking some stuff up online, I found this:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/warfare/8530/

When he got it, he got this strange look on his face and asked what the **** he's supposed to do with it. 

Okay, fine, you don't like it, I can't get it right every time.  That being said, he's bought me some REAL stinkers as far as gifts are concerned.  I, have used/displayed them all as I love him and his heart was in the right place.

Am I wrong to feel that he could have been a bit more gracious?

He now claims he loves it, he just wishes I had one so we could 'fight'.  GRRR!!!

He was definitely rude.  DH has given me some real stinker gifts and I wouldn't dream of telling him I don't like it. 

[Trisha]

That's a cool thing! I might get one for my DH. they like to have nerf fights at the office, and they'll throw all sorts of things at each other.

Its strange that he changed his mind, maybe he didn't know it worked? He could have been more gracious though, maybe another DMM (Dumb Man Moment)

[jais]

Its strange that he changed his mind, maybe he didn't know it worked? He could have been more gracious though, maybe another DMM (Dumb Man Moment)

Possible, I think BF might need a patent on those!

[Chocolate Cake]

For someone who talked so much about catapults, that appears to be the PERFECT gift!

When he got that "look" on his face, did you remind him about all the things he had said about catapults over the years?

[jais]

For someone who talked so much about catapults, that appears to be the PERFECT gift!

When he got that "look" on his face, did you remind him about all the things he had said about catapults over the years?

Yes.  After a day of me reminding him of all this stuff is when he decided he like it but wanted one for me, too.
He has now said that he just doesn't want it to collect dust when he's not using it.  I just don't know anymore.

[Sirius]

I think he could have been a LOT more gracious.  I've given my DH some real stinkers, too, but he's always been very appreciative.  I once gave him a book that was based on the card game Magic, The Gathering, and he thanked me very much for it, and told me he was touched by my thoughtfulness in wanting to give him a gift.  He then said the book was awful.   

[Alida]

I want one!

That said, guess what DH is getting as one of his Christmas gifts?

Your BF could have been way more gracious. 

[Ondine]

Jais, don't feel bad - my ex once told me he loved Unsolved Mysteries and stories about ghosts. So I went out and bought him the Unsolved Mysteries dvd boxset for his birthday - it was a bit more than I would spend on a gift, generally, but I knew it would be the perfect gift since he liked both, and I figured it was worth the money (It was about $55 at the time).

All I heard from him after he got that gift was how much he hated the 'scary music'. I was so crushed - here the gift that I thought was perfect was in fact, a really crappy gift. However, he watched this dvd all the time - and as far as I know, probably still watches it, even though we haven't been together in almost 2 years and haven't spoken in a year and a half. So it was the perfect gift - he just had a less than perfect attitude about the gift.

If b/f isn't normally like this, I'd cut him some slack - he was probably just having a moment.

[bopper]

What are you supposed to do with it?  launch stuff at your officemate, that's what!

[sooner]

Your gift was very thoughtful.  I'm sorry your bf didn't appreciate it.

[Gambitgirl]

anyone, much less a BF, saying to your face they don't like a gift you give them is really low and rude and gets them thrown head first into EHell! it's very ungracious and nasty. would it have killed him to thank you and pretend he liked it? nope.

reminds me of the time my aunt gave me and my sisters shirts for Christmas, all similarly ugly. younger sister and i (11 and 13yo respectively) smiled and said thanks. older sister, 16 yo at the time, said "god, this si so ugly, i hate it!" and shoved it back in the box.

the look on my aunt's face was really heartbreaking and my mother, who was sitting right there, wanted to die of embarassment b/c of my sister's nastiness. seeing aunt's crushed expression i learned that it is ALWAYS best to be enthusiastically grateful about ANY gift one receives. if you hate it, keep it to yourself in front of the giver and don't say you hate the gift to others, lest it get back to the giver.

OP....your BF is a jerk. i'm sure he has many great qualities otherwise you may not be with him...but tact clearly isn't one of them. i'm sorry 

maybe you should take the catapult from him and use it to fling clue by fours at him 

[Gambitgirl]

for last christmas i gave my ex-bf a hardbound copy of T.S' Elitos' collected works, one of his favorite authors. he gave me decorative refridgerator magnets 

despite my chagrin at the obvious cheapness and lack of thought i still acted pleased and reached, in my head, for a meaningful reason why he gave me fridge magnets...maybe he bought them from the art museum we recently visited b/c they had pictures of famous artwork on them? maybe he knew i liked warhol and one of them was Warhol's Marilyn Monroe? maybe he was a cheap idiot and there's a good reason he's now an ex?

[LadyClaire]

Sounds like my evil ex. He was impossible to shop for. Or, let me rephrase that. He was possible to shop for, but only if you were spending more than you could afford on him.

On christmas, my mother bought him a few nice things. He was at least gracious to her face, but when we were alone he ranted about the crappy gifts she gave him and returned them all.

On his birthday, he got pissed off because I did not give him a Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP. This was when they were new and cost just over $100. I was unemployed at the time, and I didn't even have $100 in my bank account. He said I should have bought it for him anyways, and then told me that if I didn't spend my money on myself I could have bought it for him. The money I'd spent on myself was for a pair of jeans to replace my old ones, which had gotten ripped.

Then there was the time he insisted I buy him a specific action figure for his birthday (he collected comic books and action figures). I hunted it down on ebay, paid well above the original retail price for it and an arm and a leg for shipping. A week after I got it for him, he decided he didn't want it anymore and sold it on ebay, along with every other action figure he'd insisted I buy for him over the past six months.

He was a real joy, let me tell you.