I also think Corporate Chinese auction Xmas parties should not only be banned but the organizers be sentenced to death as an example.
Yankee Swap is kinda fun, though. At least it becomes a free-for-all, which is entertaining.
Ugh. No shit. We aren't exchanging gifts because #1 we just buy what we want anyway, and #2 I hate all the hype hat's associated with Christmas shopping.
Now my partner's family INFORMED us that they drew names and we have to spend $50 each on a gift. It's not the $100 but he has to fly down to see them for Christmas so that's about $700 in expenses and his family is this flag-waving God-bless-America Republican midwest crowd. We're in NY. I got his Dad and I have no clue what to get him. He likes going to Branson and riding his lawnmower.
I know they're going to expect him to lug shit home, and he'll just agree instead of asking them to ship it. They aren't very close to him (but they are to each other) and he is afraid I think to do anything except say "yes" to whatever hey decide. It pisses me off because as I said he is excluded from much of his family except for major holidays.
Office gift exchanges are stupid. Why would i want or expect a gift from a stranger? And I certainly wouldn't expect anything good.
Whatya think about "Elf on a Shelf" OP!
He likes riding his lawnmower, R4? Does he take it for a spin around the town? I don't get how that is a hobby. Is he that lame?
How about a 5 dollar grab bag xmas. Bring a gift get a gift, strictly voluntary.
Some of the assholes at my work would be more like secret satan
hate those. Last office i worked in had yankee swap and it got kind of weird; brought out the worst immaturities in people.
If companies want to reward employees at holiday time, do it with TIME. Give half the office this friday off and the other half next friday off. If the whole place takes a half day for a yankee swap, the company doesn't lose any more by just letting each person leave for the same amount of time.
I hate it when companies want to 'give back' by holding stupid events where people feel obligated to pretend they're having fun. And then most of them whine amongst themselves when it's done.
Ugh. In the unimaginative places I've worked, these things always end up as swapping one $20 corporate gift card for another of equal value.
Last year I went to a Christmas potluck and we did a Yankee swap. I wound up trading some crappy British digestives for a bottle of wine. I took it from the behemoth hostess of the party who planned the Yankee swap and wound up scratched off her Christmas card list.
I work in a theater, and currently we have a show going on with a cast of kids. They tried to plan a Secret Santa for the kids but they all complained about who they picked, the director yelled at them, and all hell broke loose.
Christmas brings out the worst in people.
Yes R7. They live on several hundred acres and he rides it around the property.
See what I mean?
I guess it is better than sitting on the couch though.
R4
A co-worker got a weird SS gift the other day - not a tacky or terrible one, just kind of random. She opened a large package and got an advent calendar of cheap chocolate, the kind you'd get for a kid you weren't related to maybe, and what looked like a dozen white tea light candles. For a split second her face said what the fuck is this? before it smoothed out and she said thanks. But who gives someone a dozen plain candles with no explanation when the recipient isn't into candles or aromatherapy, etc?
[quote]But who gives someone a dozen plain candles with no explanation when the recipient isn't into candles or aromatherapy, etc?
Someone who's in a rush to grab something for a ridiculously stupid office party.
I hate Secret Santa but it really reveals a lot about your coworker's personalities. The woman responsible for my Secret Santa present last year gave me something very thoughtful and obviously went out of her way to go get it.
[quote]But who gives someone a dozen plain candles with no explanation when the recipient isn't into candles or aromatherapy, etc?
somebody who's regifting a shitty gift.
