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.”
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Newest shopping center
ready for holiday traffic
By Michelle Stforius
Staff writer
When the busiest shopping day of
die year arrives Friday, Lincoln’s newest
shopping center will be waiting with
open doors.
Six new stores will open that day at
South Pointe Pavilions’ open-air stop
ping plaza at 27* Street and Pine Lake
Road.
Abercrombie & Fitch, The Buckle,
Gymboree, Lenscrafters, Athlete’s Foot
and Bed, Bath & Beyond will join four
stores already open at the plaza, said
Scott Rehorn, a partner in R.E.D.
Capital Development
Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Old
Navy, Hallmark Creations and Chili’s
opened this fall.
We don t have these stores any
where else,” said Amy Jappert, a
University of Nebraska-Lincoln fresh
man who works at Hallmark Creations.
“This way, I don’t have to go to Omaha.”
Rehorn said planning for South
Pointe began more than two years ago.
The exterior construction should be fin
ished within the next two months, and
the interior of the mall will be complet
ed by summer 1999.
South Pointe’s open-air layout is dif
ferent from that of a typical mall,
Rehom said. It adds atmosphere and
gives shoppers a better shopping expe
rience than an enclosed mall does.
Scott Victoryskocil, general manag
er of Gateway Mall, agreed that South
Pointe Pavilions offers shoppers a dif
ferent option than Gateway, the other
large mall in Lincoln.
Other stores that will open at South
Pointe after the New Year’s holiday
include Gap, Gap Kids and Landmark
Luggage. Old Navy was the first store
to open at South Pointe.
Daniel Reimnitz, Old Navy general
manager, said the store has had steady
traffic since its opening.
Chili’s, South Pointe’s only restau
rant, opened at this fall because of the
development in the area.
Steven Drake, service manager at
Chili’s, said the mall brings people to
the restaurant
“We have people coming in
droves,” Drake said. “We got killed last
week.”
Chili s will not have problems han
dling holiday business, he said.
TJ. Hesser, store manager of South
Pointe’s Barnes & Noble, said he also
expects the mall to draw a huge number
of shoppers to the store.
People will stop into the bookstore
during their holiday shopping trips to
other South Pointe stores, he said.
Barnes & Noble has much more to
offer than books, he said. The store also
has listening stations for music,
Starbucks coffee and a gift area.
“Usually, Barnes & Noble is a desti
nation store,” Hesser said. “But South
Pointe Pavilions is going to be a destina
tion mall.”
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