66-year-old woman returns holiday gift to 23-year-old coworker: 'I won't use it... give it to someone who will'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jan 7, 2026 5:00 PM EST

This young worker was taken aback by an older coworker's abrupt rejection of her holiday gift. 

What to do with a gift you don't like? I never worry about this, honestly. If I don't like a gift that someone gave me, like a lotion or a book or even a sweater, I just regift it to someone in a whole separate friend group. That's an okay thing to do, right? If I was already going to buy that person a gift, I may as well regift them something they'll enjoy and will never know the difference. For the same reason, I also don't really mind if people regift things to me. Whatever makes the world go round! There are thrift stores for a reason — just because someone else didn't appreciate something doesn't mean you can't reuse it and enjoy it fully. 

This person basically did that during a workplace gift exchange. Her coworker, who's in an older generation than her, gave her a scarf and a pair of socks, and this younger woman wasn't thrilled with that gift. It's pretty generic, but it is also the kind of thing that most of us can still use (who doesn't need new socks every now and again, am I right?). This young woman accepted the gift graciously, but her coworker rejected her gift. 

Now, here's where it gets interesting. Depending on your perception of this post, which you can read below, you may or may not think that the older woman did anything wrong. It seems like these coworkers already have some beef marinating before this whole debacle, which could certainly tint the way that this whole conversation played out. The older woman didn't care for her lip balm present, but her rejection uses fairly neutral language. If she doesn't like the flavor, it's kind of generous for her to offer up the gift to someone who "will actually use it." Of course, if she had a nasty tone while saying that, or she thrust it into her younger coworker's face, that's a whole different story. The younger woman insists that the coworker has it out for her… but I'm curious if there are just generational or cultural differences that are driving these two apart. After all, when you're young, you haven't met tons and tons of people who are different than you. You might take someone's speaking style or tone in a whole different manner than they intended, just because you're accustomed to people speaking to you in one specific communication style. 

Commenters landed on both sides of the argument. Some called out the younger coworker for being unkind, while others thought that the older coworker was being ridiculous. And some also thought that it was wild to have an employee gift exchange in this economy, which is just totally unnecessary! Keep scrolling to read the full exchange and comments, and see who you side with. 

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  • 01

    'My coworker (66F) gave me back my (23F) holiday gift'

    Young woman in black shirt looks right at older woman in green blazer, blue shirt, and red lipstick who smiles
    via Leire Cavia For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    I got holiday gifts for everybody I work closely with, nothing crazy. Just some hand lotion and some nice glossier lip balm (my favorite). I gave some to my elderly coworker even though she has the tendency to get on my nerves. The lip
    via u/Far_Mine_2077
  • 03
    balm I gave her was mint flavored. At the end of the day, she hands my gift back to me and says "I don't like mint, I won't use it, so give it to someone who will actually use it." Mind you, she gave me a scarf as a gift and a pair of socks.
    via u/Far_Mine_2077
  • 04
    Both of which I will never wear, but I still accepted graciously. I ended up giving the lip balm to another coworker who was super happy to receive it. Starting to think my coworker might actually be evil. This is also compounded with
    via u/Far_Mine_2077
  • 05
    the way she speaks to me and belittles me constantly. The gift was just the cherry on top! Happy holidays everyone.
    via u/Far_Mine_2077
  • 06
    Young woman in black shirt and tan pants places hands behind back and looks right
    via Wesley Tingey For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 07
    Krellous Well now you know to never give her anything or accept anything from her, I guess.
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  • 08
    Far_Mine_2077 OP Very true. I was also thinking how she would react if I gave her my gift back and I think she would be very offended.
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  • 09
    Smart_Drop8009 Your post was a little funny lol! Anyways, you know that you were just trying to be nice to her and that is awesome. Go OP! If we are trying to look at the gift receiver with peace, love and understanding, she might be one of those super
    via u/
  • 10
    frugal older gen's that just don't want the lip balm to go to waste. She could have worded it differently and been more gracious about it but not all people have those capabilities unfortunately
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  • 11
    norma-louise-ba... To me, giving the gifts is weird in the first place, sorry. It's really unnecessary. It's giving someone you don't even like things the other person will probably never need, and I mean not only the woman who returned it. The others may have been only polite
    via u/
  • 12
    and pretended they liked it, like you. They're your colleagues not friends, not family. And it's simply a waste of money, and buying stuff to bin it basically. Waste production. It doesn't make any sense.
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  • 13
    Madragun I get that it hurt your feelings but this is such a petty reason to call someone as strong a word as "evil". I would've given it back too as I'm allergic to almost all products and can only use hypoallergenic stuff. Better to return it than throw it away, at least you can use it or give it to
    via u/
  • 14
    someone who can. Clearly she was of a similar mind. It's not like she was mean about it, so I don't really understand why you'd be so upset by that.
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  • 15
    coveruptionist She's 66? And "elderly". Did you say this to her face? No wonder she's salty.
    via u/

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