Gift Exchange at Work

[mildmom]

Do you do this? How do you feel about it? Do you like drawing names or playing Secret Santa? I am somewhere in the middle. It is not the highlight of the season for me like some people I know, nor do I loathe it like others I know.

 

We drew names at work. Everyone was given card to write three items they'd like in the $10range and then you pick one thing from the card you draw. We drew last week so we could shop on BF; those who've been there longer said it's a fun thing every year. We were discussing what to write (I was only temping last year and didn't get in on it). The people who've been there a few years said 'fun socks' 'hand lotion' 'candles', things like that. Sometimes they go out and try to find the corniest gift, something funny. One girl said she wrote chapstick and Target giftcard, 'cause you know, if someone's gonna spend $10 I'll take a gift card and I can buy something for myself" but she said it kind of rude, like "I don't want some crap that you guys would pick". So of course, I drew Her card. I was REALLY tempted to wrap a ten dollar bill around a chapstick and throw it at her with a sarcastic wish for the holidays. But I decided maybe that was overreacting a bit....ha ha.

 

So, what do you think? Is it rude to ask for a gift card in a gift exchange? I was thinking it was going to be fun to get someone a little gift; but maybe that is because I don't have many people to buy for and I enjoy finding and wrapping little things for people. If we are all going to just exchange ten dollars, what is the point? In general I don't have a big problem with gift cards; though I appreciate a "Thank you, here's what I Bought" afterward. And I know, a gift is a gift, supposed to have no strings attached, but that's not how I was raised. I was raised you better send a thank you or you may never be gifted again and I gotta say, it has taken me many years to realize that my husband's family believes saying 'thanks' when you open a gift is all that is necessary.

[nick_jenni_jocelyn]

if thats what the girl wants, i would give it to her. a target gift card. or maybe buy her something from target and also include the receipt, in case she takes it back. that way you will have given her something, which you wanted to do. whether she takes it back is up to her.

[heatherkw]

Ha Giftcard what a party pooper! As far as here,its a very small company and truthfully I can't think of anybody I like well enough! haha! My BF family doest a gathering and Dirty Santa thing. As its a very large family I can wait to see it all play out!

[AndreaInNC]

or maybe buy her something from target and also include the receipt, in case she takes it back. that way you will have given her something, which you wanted to do. whether she takes it back is up to her.

I like that idea! That way you can shop and actually experience the JOY of giving .. not much joy in purchasing a gift card.

 

But I'm like you - I enjoy picking out gifts for people. I mean, why didn't she just say she didn't want to participate?

[Marian2007]

Do you do this? How do you feel about it? Do you like drawing names or playing Secret Santa? I am somewhere in the middle. It is not the highlight of the season for me like some people I know, nor do I loathe it like others I know.

 

We drew names at work. Everyone was given card to write three items they'd like in the $10range and then you pick one thing from the card you draw. We drew last week so we could shop on BF; those who've been there longer said it's a fun thing every year. We were discussing what to write (I was only temping last year and didn't get in on it). The people who've been there a few years said 'fun socks' 'hand lotion' 'candles', things like that. Sometimes they go out and try to find the corniest gift, something funny. One girl said she wrote chapstick and Target giftcard, 'cause you know, if someone's gonna spend $10 I'll take a gift card and I can buy something for myself" but she said it kind of rude, like "I don't want some crap that you guys would pick". So of course, I drew Her card. I was REALLY tempted to wrap a ten dollar bill around a chapstick and throw it at her with a sarcastic wish for the holidays. But I decided maybe that was overreacting a bit....ha ha.

 

So, what do you think? Is it rude to ask for a gift card in a gift exchange? I was thinking it was going to be fun to get someone a little gift; but maybe that is because I don't have many people to buy for and I enjoy finding and wrapping little things for people. If we are all going to just exchange ten dollars, what is the point? In general I don't have a big problem with gift cards; though I appreciate a "Thank you, here's what I Bought" afterward. And I know, a gift is a gift, supposed to have no strings attached, but that's not how I was raised. I was raised you better send a thank you or you may never be gifted again and I gotta say, it has taken me many years to realize that my husband's family believes saying 'thanks' when you open a gift is all that is necessary.

I hate gift cards because then everyone knows exactly how much you spent--reccieving them is okay,but i like to get bargains when i buy gifts.

[MathGirl]

Is it possible that she would like a Target gift card because maybe she needs it or knows someone else who could use it?

 

If that isn't the case, look around and see if you can find anything that you think she would enjoy and if you can't then just get her some Chapstick and a gc or a bunch of Chapsticks in a small gift bag.

[tokanm]

At a local flea market they sell really nice Buxton wallets (all shapes, sizes and colors) for

dirt cheap...less than $5.00 brand new (of course

I am buying my coworkers each a wallet and putting in a Dunkin Donuts GC

[angel-too]

Participating in a gift exchange should be enjoyable. Seeing as you werent' 'feelin it'' going in

and getting her name on top of it, maybe you could see if anyone wants to trade names.

Someone might welcome the easy pick up a giftcard route, giving you the opportunity to

shop for a little gift for the new recipient.

[MathGirl]

Participating in a gift exchange should be enjoyable. Seeing as you werent' 'feelin it'' going in

and getting her name on top of it, maybe you could see if anyone wants to trade names.

Someone might welcome the easy pick up a giftcard route, giving you the opportunity to

shop for a little gift for the new recipient.

Great idea!

[vsa3janes]

Where I worked last year everyone brought in a $10 wrapped gift. Then they picked names and each person picked the gift they wanted from the table.

 

Most people brought in bottles of wine, lottery tickets or candy. Funny the wine all went first.

 

Where I work this year we adopted a family from a local shelter and instead of spending money on co-workers people pitched in and we bought for the family. It has been great, people donated what they could and a couple of us went bargain shopping. We were able to get a family of 5 coats & gloves, 2 outfits each, each a pair of shoes, 2 toys each for the kids, 3 family games, new towels, glasses & glad ware for storage, and filled stockings for each of them. All, I am proud to say, for $450.

 

I enjoyed giving & shopping for the adopted family much more than I would have exchanging gifts with a co-worker.

[leefamily23]

I'm at a new place this year. No gift exchange, and I'm glad about that. Honestly at my last place it got to be ridiculous.

 

We had to chip in $25 each for each of the 4 partners gifts. That was a total of $100 per person to chip in. Then $25 for our direct supervisor. Then $25 name draw gift. Not one single person had children in the office besides myself, so I think that is why to them it was not a big deal to fork out $150 for work gifts.

 

I had to laugh becuase they gave us a $200 bonus (which was nice), but it all mostly went towards those gifts.......

[eve]

I'm at a new place this year. No gift exchange, and I'm glad about that. Honestly at my last place it got to be ridiculous.

 

We had to chip in $25 each for each of the 4 partners gifts. That was a total of $100 per person to chip in. Then $25 for our direct supervisor. Then $25 name draw gift. Not one single person had children in the office besides myself, so I think that is why to them it was not a big deal to fork out $150 for work gifts.

 

I had to laugh becuase they gave us a $200 bonus (which was nice), but it all mostly went towards those gifts.......

wow people at my work bitched about $5 for the bosses combined

of course there is nothing this year

[santaclaus]

We tried this one time within our department at work. It wont happen again. There was a small group of us that exchanged gifts every year and word got out about our little exchange. Next thing we knew, other people had found out about it and wanted it to go department wide. While most got nice gifts, myself included, some people got really crappy things. I can remember the recipiant of a very nice gift got a highly religious person a slutty t shirt.

[Marcster]

Since I am self employed, I don't have to deal with any of this but how about $10 worth of Chapstick from Target w/the gift recp't?

[vsa3janes]

What about an ornament exchange? Everyone could bring in a wrapped ornament, place numbers on them, put them on a table or under the tree, pick numbers, the number picked receives the ornament with the same number.

 

We did this one year with a limit of $5. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

[guilliam]

Since I am self employed, I don't have to deal with any of this but how about $10 worth of Chapstick from Target w/the gift recp't?

That's sot of what I was thinking If all she wrote was chapstick and a giftcard, I'd buy her $10 worth of chapstick, all different flavors, from Target. But I wouldn't give the receipt with it

 

Some people try to suck the fun out of everything. A ss exchange is for fun. Let's face it, $10 isn't going to buy a spectacular gift anywhere. She should just take what she gets and join the fun or not participate. JMHO...

[meinnj]

We do an exchage at work within our dept only 8 of us, we have all worked together for the past 10 years we do $50 and no gift cards.

[allisonfc21]

I work in a large real estate office that has a big luncheon and we do the "Secret Santa". We don't pick names, we buy a generic gift and pick numbers to see what order everyone will go in to pick & you can steal gifts from eachother. Every year, there is a group of the same cheap people that bring in broken stuff from their closet or re-gifted junk that no one wants. (We have a 15 dollar limit) I usually buy something nice - a Yankee Candle or something like that.. 2 years ago I wound up getting a broken picture frame! Last year I bought 15.00 in scratch off tickets, and holy cow...you would have thought it was gold! Everyone went CRAZY over them! The lady that ended up with them won $50....so that was cool.

[conj]

we were talking about this today at work... our exchange is coming up soon... anyway, we're thinking for next year instead of exchanging crap (which is usually what it amounts to) we will as everyone in our section to chip in 5$ to adopt a kid or 2 off the tree (salvation army angels).

[mildmom]

Thanks for all your thoughts. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought she was being a party-pooper. I haven't decided what to do, but I'm sure I'll be nice and just give her $10 and wish her the best. She is so not worth me wasting my time over the issue anymore. We'll see what happens the day of the party as a few others asked for gift cards too. I haven't heard anyone else say anything beyond "yeah gift cards are boring".

 

I see Target has some giftcards that come with a little game or some sort of 'toy'. Maybe I could do that. It just hit me the wrong way the way she was so snotty about only wanting the money.

 

Here are my other mean thoughts in case you're the type that likes that

Buy a $10 gift card then use it to buy something and put them in a bag together. When she goes to the store to use her $10 card, she'll discover it has less than $10 on it...

 

Buy an ugly shirt but pretend I really like it (she had said she'd buy herself a shirt w/the giftcard). You know, if she had asked for a shirt, I would have knocked myself out to find something she'd like; but she said shirt like "garbage".

 

$10 worth of toilet paper. At least it would be a big package I could wrap, it's something everybody uses and I'd LOVE to see her return it. Plus it would give her a story for the rest of her life "yeah well one time I got toilet paper for christmas". Oh come on, I"d buy the good stuff : )

 

Someone suggested giftcard to local sextoy shop : )

 

Many voted for bag of chapstick. Some suggested the ones shaped like a penis.

 

But I'm a nice person and I don't want to be petty. OK I do, but I don't want them to think I am, ha ha. That is just such a theme at this place. I try to let it roll and figure a year from now, what will it matter.

[momlori]

I went to the different road and actually took the week of Christmas off so I would not have to participate in this tradition. For the last 2 years, I knew ahead of time who had my name as they made a big deal of it. I am a manager and tried to use that to back out last year but was shamed into it. This year it was a relief to say I would not be in. The tradition was fun, but got way to political.