Below is a recounting of an actual Secret Santa gift exchange experience that I encountered while working in an office. This is a true story!
Back in 1998, I was working at a computer parts manufacturer in the Tampa Bay area as a receptionist/switchboard operator. It was my 2nd real job in an office and I was learning the ropes of the professional environment. The office manager went around asking employees to participate in the Secret Santa gift exchange before the holiday break. It was my first time doing so, but I was game. I thought it would be fun to purchase a gift secretly for a co-worker.
We were all given the rules and criteria: you were to spend no more than $50 for the gift. You had to have the gift wrapped and if you participated, you had to buy someone else a gift. The rules were simple enough and I drew a name of a woman who I knew loved arts in crafts, so I bought her a scrapbooking kit from Michaels.
I was due to drive to St. Louis for the holidays so I ended up leaving my gift on her desk the day before Christmas Eve. We were all supposed to exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, which was a half day in our office. I figured when I got back to the office after the holidays, I would have a gift waiting for me.
I spent the holidays in St. Louis, then my then 4 year old son and I made the 18 hour trek back to Florida. When I arrived back to the office, there was a shiny red box wrapped on my desk.
I was so excited that I began ripping away at the gift. After I discarded the wrapping paper, I opened the apparel box and was shocked at the contents—inside was a black lace neglige with matching panties. Lingerie!?
I instantly put the lace items back in the box and closed it. I was so embarrassed! I began looking around the office to see who would’ve purchased such an inappropriate gift for me. No one had ever flirted with me in the office or shown me that they were interested so the gift was a shock. I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.
I went home and took my gift with me and it stayed in my drawer for years. I never wore it because I felt like it was nasty. Even though it was a nice lace gift from Victoria’s Secret. It also still had the price tags on it and cost more than the $50 limit.
I was obviously working with a freak nasty!
Later when I began working as a HR manager, I made sure to indicate in the Secret Santa rules that the gift had to be appropriate for office employees. A gift like that could be considered sexual harassment.
Do you have any Secret Santa gaffes to share? Have you ever received an inappropriate Secret Santa gift?
Aisha G says
*Clutches pearls* Can’t say I’ve experienced this but how weird!!!!
Robyn Wright of RobynsOnlineWorld.com says
Ewwww! That is creepy! I can’t believe someone would buy that as an office secret santa gift!
On the bright side (kind of) they spent more than the budget. I seem to ALWAYS be the one who spends the full budget amount and ends up with something from the $1 store they try to pass off as a good gift.
Andrea aka Heathen Mom says
Ok, that is just gross! That is not the way to attract attention. Did you ever find out who bought it?
The Cubicle Chick says
No, I never found out who did it. It was so weird going to work each day not knowing who gave me the “gift”. I ended up leaving to go to another job 6 months or so later.
MELISASource says
Yep–I’ve got one: at my previous job the Christmas that I was pregnant with my 4th child my Secret Santa gift wrapped a box of condoms with a note that said, “because we like you better when you’re not pregnant!” –Talk about O-M-G!!! The gag was that whenever I was pregnant, I became very “demanding” (putting it nicely). Since I was very close-nit with my work team and that was the 2nd pregnancy that they had to endure with me, it was funny, but at the same time I felt it was indeed inappropriate for the office environment!
Michelle says
Oh my wow!!! That is terribly inappropriate!!! I’m hoping they got their boxes mixed up and there is some poor guy still living down the year he got his wife/girlfriend an “office-friendly” gift…LOL
Thank goodness I’ve never had that type of experience…I’m currently on maternity leave and, like MELISASource, it was my 2nd pregnancy with my office team. I’m thinking they would be inclined to give me that box of condoms, too if they thought I was going to try for another one. I, too, had the reputation for being the “demanding” or “difficult” pregnant chick.
AB says
At the place I work one person gave another a gimp mask.. And they make a big thing of some creppy middle-aged bloke playing “santa”, and getting all the unlucky participants to sit on his knee to receive their “gift”. The management were surprised that I said “no” to my first invitation to such a show of juvenile employment-tribunal-attracting idiocy. So much so that I was called into a room to “explain” whyever I didn’t want to take part since “team building is important to the company”. I told them in no uncertain terms: 1) No means no. 2) Allowing creepy blokes to let the worst sides of their personality just because it’s Christmas has nothing to do with team-building, or morale.
The creepy bloke that dresses up as santa every year also does a “roast” of the management. Nobody has ever had any difficultly differentiating him from Billy Connolly – it’s cringeworthy, and completely unfunny. It truly is the worst company for inappropriate Christmas behaviour I’ve ever seen.