It’s Christmas morning and you are celebrating with all your relatives like every other Christmas since the dawn of time. Everyone in the room is in great spirit. You’re sitting around a glowing Christmas tree as you rip into a gift. The wrapping paper flies off, you throw open the box and you sit there stunned into silence.

You got the ugliest turtleneck you have ever seen in your life.

What do you say? What do you do? Do you put it on? You say nothing? How do you thank someone for the worst gift of your life?

All of this brings up the issue of the politics and politeness of gift receiving. Follow the advice given below and you will longer feel the awkwardness of getting something you didn’t want from your overbearing Aunt Debbie.

Yes, this has happened to me before. Once I got a Barbie doll when I was 13 (no I did not still play with them) and another time a relative gave me an 8 inch by 11 inch framed picture of themself.

If things are going your way, the gift in question was sent via online or UPS. Therefore you can make what ever sarcastic remark you want to in privacy. Then you can jump off your high horse and write a polite thank you note to whomever.

But then comes the nightmare situation. The very person who gave you the most awkward, awful gift of all time is sitting right next to you. Yes, I’m sorry, but you have to react politely. Not that it wouldn’t be natural to, but this is just a sweet reminder.

Here are quick steps you can easily memorize so you are stuck without a faux pas.

1) Smile: a smile can mean something good or bad right? A beautiful smile cannot offend. Just don’t do it sarcastically.

2) Say something general. Don’t caught in a lie about how fabulous the object is or how you could never live without it, but don’t be flat out rude. Make eye contact and say something along the lines of “Wow thank you this is so unique.”

3) Whatever you do, do not put it back into the box/bag. If you really want to send sweet old Aunt Debbie home in tears, close the box. Actually, never do this, it is the definition of rude.

4) Finally, if necessary, write a thank you card. Make sure to keep it short and sweet. A thank you card will always do more good than harm. Even send them out if the gift was genuinely delightful! Describe this item in a good light and say why you needed it.