The worst of the worst UNL students handle bad, bad Christmas gifts By Jessica Fargen Staff writer One bottle of Turtle Wax wash and a wax kit. A tube of green lipstick, a lawn chair and a small slot machine. A 5-pound pillow that looks like a potato. Bizarre, overly practical and just plain stupid gifts top University of Nebraska-Lincoln students’ lists of worst-received Christmas gifts. The culprits: usually aunts and grandmothers. The well-meaning relatives gave the strangest gifts, which rarely got thrown away and always required proper gift-opening etiquette, stu dents said. Josh Reiners, a junior animal sci ence major, said he opened a too practical gift from his aunt and uncle last year. “I got a bottle of Turtle Wax wash and wax kit,” he said. “I still haven’t used it. That was kind of weird.” But Reiners has yet to part with the car-shining liquid. In fact, he brought it to college with him. “Maybe some sunny day, I’ll use it,” he said. Beth Rademacher’s gift was also green, but it wasn’t for her car. The junior communications major got a tube of green lipstick that turned bright red when she put it on. She has not used the lipstick since her grandmother gave it to her a couple years ago, but she has not thrown it away either. Throwing away bad gifts and making sour faces when they are opened isn’t proper, Reiners said - no matter how ridiculous the gift is. “It’s essential that you act like you love it,” he said. “Especially when it’s from relatives.” Scott Jefferson, a freshman pre medicine major, agreed. “You just kind of give a cheesy grin and say, ‘Oh thanks,’ but you don’t really mean it.” Jefferson had an experience sim ilar to Reiners’ when he received a lawn chair from his grandmother. Jefferson was 10 years old when he and his brother got the lawn chair. “They thought we might need it,” he said. Jefferson said his mother used the chair more than he did. Deborah Lee, a junior psycholo gy major, said she usually gets nor mal gifts from her family members - with the exception of her dad. He always puts a bottle of “stuff ” in her stocking. The stuff, she said, goes in her gas tank to make her car start better in winter. “He just started putting that in my stocking when I came to school,” she said. “He’s not much of a gift person, but he usually gets us that. a It’s essential that you act like you love (the gift).” Josh Reiners animal science major “It’s his way of taking care of his little girl.” Robin Clevenger, a junior psy chology major, got a slot machine from her aunt before she was even old enough to gamble. ine toy was stutted under Clevenger’s bed for several years. Michelle Wiemer, a senior busi ness major, said her grandmother gave her and her sister 5-pound pil lows that looked like sacks of pota toes. “Me and my sister thought it looked like bird seed, and it was very embarrassing,” said Wiemer, who was 20 years old at the time. She hasn’t used the potato pil low, but it might still be around. “I have no idea where it is now,” she said. “We brought it home, we laughed about it, and Mom took them somewhere. “It was a good laugh.” The perfect holiday gift. No assembly required. * - -vt Combining state-of-the-art features with simple setup and operation, iMa