For some students, this Christmas season brought gifts they were not expecting, nor did they think to ask for.
Some Ohio University students were the recipients of strange or uncommon gifts this year. According to an article in USA Today, some of the most popular presents for this Christmas were the game Cards Against Humanity, Amazon Echo and a Sony Playstation 4 Slim. Some students did not get gifts like these — theirs were far more peculiar.
Alex Baker, an undecided freshman, was given a toy unicorn that, when squeezed, shoots rainbow balls out it its nose.
“I used to like unicorns when I was little, but now I don’t own anything unicorn related,” Baker said. “I think (my dad) thought it was funny.”
Baker says that this was the only strange gift she received; the rest of the presents her dad gave her were typical gifts.
“All his gifts were serious and relevant like winter gloves and money, and then there was this,” Baker said.
Kristen Bishop, a sophomore studying pre-social work, was given a pair of earrings from her sister. These earrings look normal, however they have a special quirk.
“The earrings are a piece of metal dangling from your earlobe with lights on them,” Bishop said, “And the static from walking on carpet charges the lights.”
These earrings were bought at a small science boutique in Columbus. The lights can be charged when the person wearing the earrings walks on carpet barefoot or in socks. The static created by this causes them to light up.
From a distance, the lights look like small stones. However, the “stone” is a small glass vial that contains a very small light. The metal is copper which transfers the static electricity from the carpet to the light.
Nicolle Barnett’s dad gave her and her three siblings an investment for their futures.
They were given a stack of silver and copper coins which her dad told them will be worth more than he spent on them if they hold onto them.
“His logic is that if we wait long enough they will go up in value and we will make a profit,” Barnett, a freshman studying pre-med, said.
Their dad gave them coins rather than regular paper money because, unlike the coins, he said paper money will decrease in value as the years pass.
Barnett plans to hold onto the coins for a couple of decades in hopes that she’ll receive a payoff like her dad hoped.
“I appreciate the sentiment behind it,” she said.
