Holiday Blog

By amy

December 9, 2008 2:57 PM | Link to this

No, I do not buy my boss gifts!!!

The only thing I’ve ever done is to buy christmas tree ornaments-and give one to each person in my group including my boss—unique ornaments from Cost Plus World Market. (made sure they all celebrated christmas first!)

Another year, I made fudge and put it by the common printer for people to graze at all day long. When in doubt, most people like food!
But then with that you get into the issues of, who made it, and do they have animals in their house, and do they keep a clean house, all that drama, etc.

This year the new place I am working at has a holiday party where everyone is supposed to bring a gift valued between 20-40 and play that game—oh, i forget what it is called, but if you don’t like what you opened, you have the right to steal someone else’s. It’s the first time that a place i’ve worked for actually had an organized way of giving.

By Goldfish

December 9, 2008 3:43 PM | Link to this

booze, booze and more booze.

By mechi

December 9, 2008 3:48 PM | Link to this

Amy, it’s White Elephant..and it can be fun with the right group of people, me and some friends are actually doing that this year. As far as office gifts, I’ll probably get my team some hand lotion from the body shop, or a gift card from target (should be a safe store, I haven’t heard they’re going out of business). We usually pull together and just get our boss an AmEx gift card for about $50 (from a group of six).

By Cammie

December 9, 2008 3:53 PM | Link to this

It is weird to try my boss a gift — she makes waaaay more than I do. What can I give her that 1) I can afford 2) she can use 3) she would appreciate?

I go through this every year. This year, especially since things are so tight, I may just skip it altogether.

By katherine

December 9, 2008 3:55 PM | Link to this

Our office makes a donation to an Educational Foundation, but the secretaries got together and bought our boss a goody bag for her dog - we know she loves it so much, and we’re not supposed to get anything for her, so hopefully the “dog” gift will make her happy. I guess it is like when you become a parent, anything someone does for your child is a gift to you.

By Becky

December 9, 2008 3:59 PM | Link to this

Of course I give the boss a gift..After all, he gives me a job, a bonus & a Christmas dinner..

By Mike D

December 9, 2008 4:29 PM | Link to this

I would like to give my boss a Ruffiecolada and strip him naked and leave him in the parking lot of a gay bar. That would be the perfect gift for that POS.

By MrHughes

December 9, 2008 4:38 PM | Link to this

This is how messed up our workplace is. We’ve bought our boss alcohol the past two years!! Booze makes sure that we don’t have to worry about folks trying to micromanage you because he’s blitzed or hung over. I’m not contributing this year though. He can take himself to the bar if he wants to get wet. I’ll need to visit the bar myself after getting my W2’s.

By Mike

December 9, 2008 4:46 PM | Link to this

My old job had the same game as Amy’s. The first year we did it the person who organized it and annoyed the heck out of everyone reminding us about it DIDN’T SHOW UP. We had to throw business cards into the pile of gifts to represent the two she was supposed to bring. When she got back to the office after it was over, one of the gifts was a ten dollar bill wrapped in a piece of paper - not even in an envelope!

In later years it was much better. We had gifts so cool that people got into fights over them. :)

By MrHughes

December 9, 2008 5:02 PM | Link to this

“animals in their house, and do they keep a clean house”

How do you know that kind of thing? Animals don’t make a person nasty. Nasty people are nasty people. I doubt anyone has ever been to someone’s house that was THAT nasty. And, most people clean up before you come over. How effect can this really be unless people are doing white glove tests, looking under the couch/bed for dust bunnies, and sending the sponge off to the lab for testing? Here’s a better measure of a nasty person. Do they wash their hands after using the bathroom? That’s an easy one to verify if you are the same gender. Do they have good personal hygiene? Again, another easy one to verify. I dated a girl once who was like “showering every day is bad for your skin”. Yea, didn’t eat too much of her cooking. I’d rather have “bad skin” and not risk smelling like I was riding around on top of a trash barge.

What I hate about holiday gift giving at work is that it just an exchange of gift cards. How well do your co-workers really know you? Last year I bought a $20 Target gift card and got one back. Who really benefited besides Target? On the otherhand, my “list” was gift cards from major retailers.

By BiPolar Bear

December 9, 2008 5:14 PM | Link to this

Etiquette wise you’re not supposed to buy your boss a gift. Gifts are supposed to be given to employees by the boss.

So, no, I don’t buy my 8 bosses a gift. I’d go broke.

By MamaS

December 9, 2008 6:01 PM | Link to this

In our office the bosses (two of them) give gifts only to their personal assistants. The PA’s (three of them) take up a collection — suggested donation $10 — from each employee and buy the bosses a gift card to the store of their preference. And what do the bosses do for the employees? They give us one hour after work to throw ourselves a covered dish party (we bring our own food and drink, set up and clean up). The bosses come, eat a heaping plate each, and wish us all a Happy Holiday.

By Out of work

December 9, 2008 7:23 PM | Link to this

If I had a boss right now, I would give him (them) a kick in the “You know where”…. Too many chiefs and too few Indians and now, no work for me…. so why would I ever give a “boss” anything again?

By deidre_NC

December 9, 2008 7:44 PM | Link to this

i used to get caught in the trap of giving the boss and others i worked with a gift—but i have now started only giving gifts to people i want to..not ones i feel i have to. i cant even really give on to all id love to..times are rough as we all know. i did used to work at a place—a manufacturing cmpany-my boss had this ;office workers are better than factory workers’ menatlity-so we office workers all had to participate in a gift exchange-he really got p** if we didnt—we had to lead the way or some such crap—what was so bad is that the factory workers made tons more money (base pay plus production pay) than any of us office workers. so they would all give much better gifts—i always wondered why he didnt get that lol moron..his company is now out of business.

where i work now is not conducive to even giving co workers a gift, very inpersonal place-..its like a cattle house..or is that a slaughter house lol

By Texas Pete

December 9, 2008 8:58 PM | Link to this

I wish I could somehow give my boss polio or smallpox. She is such a turd.