Two holiday gift exchange strategies. But which one is inherently better?
In my personal experience, I’ve been burned way too many times doing Secret Santa. Whereas I usually put in a high degree of effort into personalizing a gift for my secret santa (catering to their interests), I usually get a disappointing return in investment. My gift is usually either socks, candles, or even worse – a chocolate tower full of snacks that are inedible or simply disgusting in nature. I suppose you could say that secret santa would only be worth it if I truly believed everybody doing it was 100% invested in giving the best gift possible and not half-assing it. Which is why of course I will NEVER EVER do a secret santa at a workplace EVER AGAIN!
White elephant on the other hand presents an opportunity to either present gifts that are supposed to be virtually loved in nature by everyone (unisex that would be enjoyable by the masses). In the offset chance that it is supposed to be more humourous, gag gifts are acceptable depending on the group you are playing with. Needless to say, I’ve had much more luck with getting GOOD white elephant gifts over secret santa gifts. Universally, people tend to love any combination of gifts that include gift cards. Also, with the ability to steal gifts, it presents much more opportunities for you to end up with whatever it is you actually wanted. I had a nice little white elephant exchange today with some of the best of people. In the end we got some expired snacks and a Yeti water bottle.
In the end, I imagine I’ll have to deal with these gift exchange strategies again in the future. It’s not really the gift that matters, it’s the thought that counts. Although I know now if the gift is really really crappy, you put no thought into it at all and are ultimately a menace to society.
