Tis the season to be jolly…

And have a holiday party.  We all (or many to most of us) know how it goes.  Get together with co-workers and exchange gifts, eat a little, waste some time.  Everyone has their own way of going about the gift exchange.  Some stick to the "traditional" secret Santa where you pick a name out of a hat and buy something for that person.  Then there's the White Elephant method.  If you do the White Elephant but keep the gift wrapped, and you aren't supposed to give gag gifts or just crappy stuff, then you have the travesty that is our gift exchange.

Last year, I went all out.  I went over-budget, but that was my own fault.  I put effort into this gift.  I put thought into this gift.  I made it look pretty and everything.  I learned a lesson.  For all the thought and effort I put into my gift, someone else is putting in none.  Now, what I received was useful.  I still use it to this day.  It just wasn't what you'd expect to get in a gift exchange. (2GB flash drive)  So, yes, I'll say it, I felt kinda ripped off.  But not as much as the person that got a super shitty gift.

This year, I was better prepared.  There was thought (even if it was afterthought) and there was effort (hey, I went to a store.  So what if I was already there for something else!).  I picked up a small photo album. Vox doesn't like my picture for some reason, but it was a chocolate brown leather album with a little window in the front.  Several people in our dept have kids or just had babies, so I thought it was a safe gift that would be enjoyed, or at the very least, re-gifted without embarassment.

Long story short, I was getting tired of the game (BAH HUMBUG) so I ended it by taking my own gift back.  And now comes the fun part of watching people see what they walk away with.  I did see a couple of good things that I wouldn't have minded having, but they are not why I started this post.  He-who-shall-not-be-named ended up with the largest thing that showed up to be picked from. 

I knew (and so did most everyone else) who brought in this particular gift.  Said person is, and I'm guessing here, the highest paid employee in our group.  Does that mean anything?  No, of course it doesn't.  Having money doesn't mean you have taste.  Or class.  Or common sense.  But I digress.

HWSNBN opened up that bad boy.  Never in a million years, even if you knew who gave the gift, would you be able to guess what it was.  NEVER!  So let me tell you.

Are you familiar with the arcade game turned home video game Dance Dance Revolution?  No?  Okay, well go here and look.  I'll wait.  I know that I didn't send you directly to the game description because well, it just isn't the important part.  The game pad is.

Someone decided that it would be a good idea to wrap up a USED. GAME. PAD. AS. A. GIFT.  Used.  Not new.  No actual game included.  Used.  Someone else's bare feet were on this.  Used.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

OMG Tacky!  OMG Gross.  OMG WTF were you thinking?

OMG I'm glad I took my present back and re-gifted it to my massage lady.

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By Shyne

4 thoughts on “On Holiday Celebrations”
  1. So…it wasn't even the entire game? it was just the useless, used game pad? What? Are people on drugs or what? and HWSNBN is a different person, whom you do not care for, so all in all, it's okay.
    That is just plain bizzarre!

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