ASMA KHALID, HOST:
When it comes to regifting, everybody does it from time to time. Come on, admit it. You've done it, too. To prove that we are not alone, we asked MORNING EDITION listeners to share an embarrassing tale of regifting and getting caught.
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ROBERT TOGNOLI: My name is Robert Tognoli (ph), from Port Townsend, Washington. One year, during our annual holiday party at work, I received a set of champagne glasses at our Secret Santa gift exchange. I rewrap the gift and give it to my niece on Christmas Day. When my niece unwrapped the gift, she exclaimed, thank you for the beautiful glassware, Uncle Bob, but who is Ruby (ph)? My co-worker, Ruby, had left a card that read Merry Christmas from Ruby inside her donated gift. Needless to say, that was my one and only attempt at regifting.
(SOUNDBITE OF FRITZ MAYR AND DIETER KIRSCH PERFORMANCE OF ALBRECHTSBERGER'S "CONCERTO IN E MAJOR FOR JEW'S HARP")
MELISSA VOSBURG: My name's Melissa Vosburg (ph). I live in Washington, D.C. My nephew got married the year after we did. I reached into the wedding gift closet we had in our apartment and wrapped up this really nice pasta pot. We got home from the wedding, and there was a message on our answering machine. Hey, Melissa and Ian (ph), this is Marianne (ph). I just wanted to find out how you liked the pasta pot I got you for your wedding. I forgot to open the box and look inside to see that her card was there. So busted.
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TANA CLEVENGER: My name is Tana Clevenger (ph). This regifting story actually involves my mom. So the story starts when my godmother invited her over for a playdate with her grandson. And being my mom, naturally, she felt a burning need to bring a gift along, so she decided to take a book from the kids' playroom. My godmother takes one look at the title of the book and starts to laugh, and the title of the book is "I'm A Masonasaurus" (ph). Yeah, it's one of those personalized ones where the main character, Mason (ph), just happens to look exactly like my son. So you could almost hear the record scratch in the room. And my mom, meanwhile, stood there utterly baffled as everyone else burst out laughing.
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CLIFF CANOLL: I'm Cliff Canoll (ph) from Shutesbury, Massachusetts. For my dad's 70th birthday, I sent him a silver cross pen and pencil set, engraved in gold with his initials. A year and a half later, a day after Christmas, my ex-wife called. My parents had sent her a gift, a cross pen and pencil set, beautifully engraved, but not with her initials. I told her that I had an idea of what had happened. I went out and bought a clean cross pen and pencil set and gave it to her in exchange for the one she'd received. It then sat in my desk drawer for months until it occurred to me that one of my brothers had the same initials as my dad, and I sent the engraved set to him for his birthday. This may be a record of sorts. What we have here is a regift of a regift accomplished via a corrective gift-for-regift swap, resulting in not one, but three happy giftees in the end.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA'S "SLEIGH RIDE")
KHALID: Tales of regifting, embarrassment and even redemption from NPR listeners. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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