#1
Her Secret Santa present was a turkey baster with a note attached suggesting "Santa" could provide the donor sperm. She broke down crying in the middle of the office while the utter a*sehole of a man that had given her the present laughed uproariously and the HR girls looked ready to throw up in horror.
He had been removed before New Year (dunno if he was fired or if he left willingly), and she had to take a month off due to stress. It was horrible. We don't do Secret Santa anymore in our office.
#2
#3
In an anonymous secret Santa I got her a dog collar with his name on the tag.
She had a f**king meltdown.
Seeking to better understand just how fun or awful Secret Santa can get, especially in an environment such as a workplace, we got in touch with professor of psychology at Georgia Gwinnett College, David Ludden, who admitted to not being a huge fan of said holiday activity.
“It's hard enough finding appropriate gifts for the people you know, let alone those you don't. And when you're under social pressure to give, what really is the point?” he wondered.
#4
I worked with a girl who sometimes had slightly greasy hair, and an unfortunate monobrow.
She opened in front of everyone a pair of tweezers, a makeup mirror and a bottle of dry shampoo.
Safe to say she was fairly upset.
#5
Talking to Bored Panda, the expert agreed that it's very easy to offend people when you try to be creative with your gifts. “So, the safe bet is to give generic gifts like gift cards for coffee shops or restaurants, but that just makes the whole Secret Santa enterprise boring.
“From a social psychological perspective, the Secret Santa enterprise is interesting,” Prof. Ludden continued. “I suspect that most people don't like Secret Santa, but a few people do. That small minority is quite vocal and manages to impose their will on the majority. Then the majority complies, even though they don't want to. We often see a vocal minority imposing their will on a silent majority, and Secret Santa is no exception.”
#6
#7
#8
The office junior had also had a spray tan a few weeks before, I’m going back around 15 years ago so they were relatively new at the time and the colouring was definitely more orange than they are now. She got a can of Fanta and some orange face paints. She was a 17 year old girl and had only been with the company for a few months and looked absolutely mortified.
Both gifts were left in the conference room after the gifting and nobody ever took responsibility for them.
I never go for humorous gifts unless I know the person really well. If not, I’d rather stick to something generic like biscuits or a mug or something inoffensive. Much rather be boring than be as big an arsehole as either of the aforementioned gift givers.
Prof. Ludden is not wrong in his thinking that many people dislike the tradition of doing Secret Santa, especially at work. According to a 2021 survey, carried out by Instantprint, close to a third (31%) of the respondents are noooot looking forward to such a gift exchange at their workplace (which marks an increase from 19% of respondents feeling this way in 2019).
#9
#10
#11
The aforementioned survey found that for quite a few respondents, the pressure of giving the right gift is something that sucks the joy out of the gift exchange and even makes them anxious. Unsurprisingly, roughly one-in-ten of surveyed individuals say they would like Secret Santa to be cancelled altogether.
#12
(I actually like makeup, I just don't always feel like doing it. Apparently my coworker didn't think it was a choice?)
#13
#14
“In my opinion, secret Santa is not a good thing, in that it creates far more strife within an organization than the good it does. But then again, there are those who would say that I'm a Scrooge and just can't get into the Christmas spirit. I don't agree with that assessment. I just prefer to celebrate the holidays in a more subdued and sincere way,” Prof. Ludden shared.
#15
#16
Left the job for a promotion 3 months later and only used the dumbbell as a doorstop.
#17
#18
#19
#20
First, sixth form: received a set of some big-ish name bath stuff - cute, but unfortunately I cannot use like 90% of bath products, fancy or otherwise, because of my eczema and generally super-sensitive skin. Put that in a drawer until the summer, when it went into a raffle for a local social club thing.
Second, first Xmas at a new job: despite my usual group of coworkers knowing that I absolutely do not want children, whoever got me as their giftee decided it would be *hilarious* to gift me a baby clothes set, complete with a "hint, hint" written on the tag... -.- Made sure those went in a rubbish bag and in the dumpster at end of shift.
Never, ever, taking part in one again. F**k, if I'm not sure what to get someone, surely a gift card is better than risking upsetting or outright offending them.