Secret Santa, it sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it? You all get given someone to buy a prezzie for, they don’t know who bought it, someone will buy one for you then you all sit round happily unwrapping your lovely gift
But in no office I’ve ever worked in, ever, does it work out like that.
Someone always ‘forgets’ to buy and you’re left with someone not getting anything.
Someone always hates their gift and spends the next year trying to work out who insulted them by buying it.
There are accusations of people underspending or recycling gifts they got given last year and didn’t want……
The very worst one was when someone got the boss one of those Borat mankinis and he said it smelled funny and had been worn!
We were asked to spend no more than a tenner on Secret Santa, but it was never anonymous. Managers would phone up the pals of whose name they had to buy for, to get ideas, and also, if you didn’t like the person, you got them a really crappy present regardless. PLUS…the Area Manager who sorted it all out, mixed in the drama by talking about folk anyway, so…yeah, pretty awful.
Whoops sorry that was me with the mankini I wore it once but it chaffed
We used to do Secret Santa when I was working. But because we worked in smallish groups we had a good grasp of what people liked. And also wether a joke pressie would go down well. It used to work well for us
Well, at one office Christmas party - Secret Santa🎅 (an entrenched tradition) I was gifted a pair of Edible underwear- G-string !
Part of the fun was opening your gift in the presence of everyone then guessing who gifted you said present !
If you got the guess wrong, you had to have a shooter! You got three chances! I boomed my guesses so I had to have the compulsory three tequilas…
Of course, as the evening wore on, the culprit who gifted me the edible g-string with a front lace up opening had the audacity to proposition me by asking * if he’d ever get so lucky as to see me in said edible underwear* he was totally drunk by that stage of the party though.
Why did I stay so late - you ask? It’s expected of us as management to stay and my team of youngers were still partying hard!
Here’s a pic from the party before things went south of the border!
At one place I worked, I managed to convince someone I had pulled her name out of the hat. She was terrified, as for some unknown reason, I had a reputation for having a strange sense of humour. So she ended up getting a really good present. That is one from someone else.
We use to have a Secret Santa. One year, I had to buy a £5 present for a snooty girl with expensive tastes. I bought her a set of soaps from Body Shop for £4.99. When the gift was opened, she dropped then into her bin, one by one, before stalking off in a huff.
Haha! Ok, yes, lets all indulge the rude one with no manners, just so she doesn’t go off on one Everyone else gets a fiver, and she gets more because she is a …an ill mannered oinker.
Well, at least you had fun to start with and you look gorgeous xx
But you see what I mean, it never ends well, it starts off with innocent Santa and ends up with three tequilas and the office lecher wanting to see you in your edible underwear
I have always been grateful to be spared some of the rituals office workers have to put up with. Things like having to give each other birthday cards and presents, and bringing a cake in to work to share when it’s your own birthday.
Gosh yes…or bringing in cakes for everyone when you take some time off on holidays! Where on earth did that little gem come from? Oh wait…is that to appease everyone who does your work when you are gone? Because that does not happen…
Also…sorry for derailing here…but the New Year kiss when everyone goes back after Christmas Its like the 10th of January…nobody cares anymore! I always said I had a cold and not to come near me
One year, I couldn’t be bothered with doing Christmas cards and bought two big tins of Quality Street and Celebrations, sent everyone an email saying Happy Christmas and the sweets were instead of a card, and put them out for everyone to share.
Boy, was I Mrs Unpopular with some of ‘em! And they all squabbled because some people took more than their share ……
he was totally drunk by that stage of the party though.
Everyone else gets a fiver, and she gets more because she is a …an ill mannered oinker.
It’s ‘orrible!
Its like the 10th of January…nobody cares anymore! I always said I had a cold and not to come near me 