Thinking charitably (and what is a gift exchange if not charitable), the other family may have picked out the secondhand gift as something your son would like, a unique, even considerate gesture. But maybe they’re just inconsiderate gift-givers. Such is the risk we take when giving and receiving gifts.

In today's Asking Eric column, R. Eric Thomas responds to someone who isn't sure if they're obligated to buy gifts for their husband's adult son.

A “cheap,” secondhand Christmas present threatens to upend a family’s traditional gift exchange; a family’s “gay black sheep” is tired of trying to heal his

"One family just gave my son something that looks cheap and probably purchased at a secondhand store (and this isn’t the first time)."