'Tis that time of year again, gift-giving time! A blessing and a curse really. Nothing's better than getting presents (I don't care what you say, no one really believes "It's better to give than to receive" pshaw), but nothing is worse than seeing an empty bank account come January 1. Hence the creation of Secret Santa. In some contexts, this gift swap is a great idea. With friends for example; you only have to buy 1 person a present, not 10 (assuming you actually have 10 friends) and everyone feels included, part of the holiday spirit, blah blah blah. In other situations however, it's kinda a whack idea. Like when instituted at work.
Today at my office we picked co-workers names out of a bucket who we're assigned to buy a present for. First of all, a job is a place I come to MAKE money, not spend money. Secondly, I picked a name of a co-worker who is a complete stranger. Not only have I never spoken to this person, I don't even know what she looks like. She works on a different floor than me, and I looked her up on the company website and sure enough, her picture is missing. When it's my turn to give her a gift, I'm gonna be all like, uhhhh who does this go to?! And awkwardly wait for people to look in her direction. Which is kinda like when you're introducing two people and you forget the name of one, and so you wait around silently like a dumbass for them to introduce themselves, that's always rather uncomfortable.
And I just KNOW that I'm gonna wish I could keep the gift I give more than the one I receive. I know this because it's common sense. The person giving me a gift clearly doesn't know me but at all, especially but not limited to my interests, hobbies, where I like to shop, etc. I keep my work life separate from my real personal life and I intend to keep it that way. I also have experience in the regrettable "swap" realm as I've been involved in mandatory swaps of one kind or another my whole life. Throughout my childhood we'd exchange "psych boxes" before big sports games, which consisted of candy in a gift-wrapped shoe box. I always spent about $30 on mine, and filled it to the brim with chocolate! Reeses, M&Ms, Snickers, Twix, Whatchamacallit, you name it. And then I'd get a box in return that had like a tootsie pop, an apple, and a carton of animal crackers. The BEST year was the year when the girl I was supposed to exchange psych boxes with was out sick with chickenpox so I got to keep my own. I was happy as a lark belieeeeeve me (why are larks even considered happy by the way, is it because of their melodious song? aaand I digress)
I'm just sayin' I'm all for giving gifts when it means something. As Michael Scott so wisely once said, "Presents are the best way to show someone how much you care. It's a tangible thing that you can point to and say, 'I love you this many dollars worth.'" But what happens when you don't particularly care about the person you're giving a gift to (*cough* coworkers). This happens:
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