do people buy you things they THINK you collect?

Question

when I first moved into my first apartment, many years ago, my walls were mostly bare. I just happened run accross a garage sale so bought stuff to put on my walls for the time being. I intended to replace them with stuff I liked better down the road. friends and family saw the stuff on the wall, and since there was more than one of a peticular item in different styles they assumed I collected them.
my house is full of these items now from friends & family that bought them for me each holiday. I didnt have the heart to tell them I ONLY had them to cover my bare walls after they searched long and far for just the right ones to give me.
has this happened to you?

Answer 1

People buy me Elvis stuff. I like Elvis but I'm not THAT much of a fan. But I just smile and take whatever it is I get, which, fortunately, is mostly greeting cards or magnets.

Answer 2

I like vibrant shades of pink, green, and orange. SOMETIMES.

Many of my family members track down items in these colors, assuming, I think, that I will like ANYTHING in these colors. My Grandmother just gave me a gi-normous (like 4 foot) pink (really mauve, though) feather (!?) wreath. What the hell am I supposed to do with that? My aunt kindly gifted me a hot pink blanket with my name embroidered in orange that has glitter-string woven through it. Cute, if I was 8. Scratchy no matter how old I am. My mom gave me hot pink flannel pajamas covered in bunnies in an XL. I'm 22, and I wear a small. I Goodwill the stuff. I figure someone out there will get more use out of it than I will, and the goal of a gift is to have someone appreciate it. I'm sure someone will appreciate it. I appreciate the thought of the item, and send a thank you card.

Answer 3

For some reason, my stepmother and my ILs BOTH think I collect carousel horses and precious moments stuff.... WRONG!

I think I liked the carousel stuff when I was 15, but that was well over half my life ago, and I've moved to totally different stuff.
I still have no idea where they got the PM idea from...

Answer 4

I once had a blanket with lighthouses on it. When I got married, my in-laws decided I must collect lighthouses. If you collect lighthouses, I suggest you visit the Goodwill store in my neighborhood. I hear they have a nice selection (hehe).

I hate collections. Anything that collects dust has to go!!

Answer 5

yep- once i had a sleepover when i was like 12 and my room was full of care bears and smiley faces and teddy bears (my 3 loves) and ever since, every single birthday, holiday, etc. i get tons of them. i can't believe how many different items they find, and even though they all know i grew out of all that 6 years ago, they still laugh when they hand me my gifts. grrrrr.

Answer 6

No way:I collect art ,bronzes and other expensive stuff:if they think to do me a favor with some cheap rip off:I WON'T EVEN ACCEPT IT.
No way there is any interfering with what I COLLECT.
TELL THEM:that I decide here and not them.
Drops.
May sound mean,but I REALLY HATE FAKE ****.

Answer 7

Yes it started with a cute little ceramic pig I found at a swap meet and then everybody started buying me pigs. I have a huge collection of pigs. I collect hurricane lamps and lanterns!

Answer 8

No not really but like your story. Have you a spring cleaning tell everyone you need a new look and start replacing it with what you like little by little!

Answer 9

Yup and it leaves you with a quandry of what to do with it. Do I throw it away, do I keep it. Will they be offended. I hate to receive gifts of any kind let alone decorations and knick knacks.

Answer 10

yes! for some bizarre reason,my mom thought I collected spoons from around the world so she got me a few from her trips......I have never collected spoons and never will.....I finally had to tell her after the 5th spoon.