To hate secret santa

[Gotabadfeelingaboutthis]

So I work 2 part time jobs. Both small teams (about 10 people in each) and both places are doing secret santa. I hate it. It is literally a lose-lose situation. Because I work part time, I don't know any of these people on a personal level well at all. My options are;

1. refuse to partake which then sours relations with colleagues and creates an awkward atmosphere on the "exchange" when I'm sat there not joining in.
2. join in, spend ages trying to find a nice gift for someone I don't know that well, then get a shit present in return that inevitably ends up in the charity shop because they don't know me that well either 🤷‍♀️

If workplaces insist on doing this, why can't they at least let people give a few ideas of things they like/might appreciate. It's just £20 (10 for each workplace) that I'll never see again in return for probably a generic bath set.

I hate them, there are a couple of people at my work who feel the same so every year, when its suggested, we all say it’s not a good idea and it doesn’t go ahead, but we are a smallish team.

just buy something easy/random/consumable and don’t put any effort in, that’s what most others do

Just say that you don’t want to take part and bring in a tub of Heroes or something with a big tag on saying ‘Merry Christmas All from Gotabad xx’.

Oooh I like this idea, so I don't look like a miserly Christmas-hating grump who doesn't like my colleagues, but a darn sight less stressful than Secret Santa!!

I wouldn’t take part either. I like the idea of taking in a box of chocs or biscuits for something as a compromise.

If you are part time, is there a chance that you won’t be there when they exchange gifts anyway?

Say no to being part of it. Chances are they don't know you either, so will be easier all round.

Take the secret Santa gifts you get this year, put them away and use them for next years secret Santa. Then you won’t be out of pocket in the long run. You can keep this little stash indefinitely if you keep squirrelling away any unwanted gifts. I hate secret Santa. It’s a waste of everyone’s time and money.

I'm new into a job and we have secret santa. Luckily the person I'm buying for announced loudly that he wanted a voucher. So he's getting £10 jlp voucher. If he doesn't like John Lewis he can always buy a bottle of wine in Waitrose.

One year I got a small box of Ferraro Roche and a Christmas scratch card.

It was a bit generic/boring but most people like a bit of chocolate (or can use/regift it over Christmas) and a little gamble and I enjoyed it so that's what I do now. Much better than toiletries.

Haha I love this, it's basically like just cutting out the middle man and giving them the £10 😆

@Jessica167353 I like the idea of squirreling them away too. Like a special tat box just for secret santa 🎅 😄

As an aside, another thing I hate about it is that there are always some members of the team who pull out someone they know well or the popular people etc who end up getting a really amazing, personal gift which just makes your generic mug or bath set look even shitter.

Please don’t do scratch cards you don’t know what people are dealing with at home I’d be upset if I got one due to a partner having a gambling addiction and even more so if he got given one as then the pressure is there to scratch it off in front of everyone. Same with alcohol I won’t gift it unless I know they drink, I kept getting alcohol on secret Santa and I don’t drink spirits so just kept giving it away to people here have a bottle of gin etc. my partners place have a spreadsheet and you write 3 things you like/would like down to try and help

i always seemed to get someone I knew and could personalise and I ended up being the person who got the shitty tat who needs 5 lip balms!I stopped doing it and brought it chocs instead on secret Santa day

It’s pointless waste and expense to buy tat for someone you don’t know. We do it for my book group (book related. Can be second hand. No more than £5) which is fine as we know what each member likes to read. And my daughter does it with her friends.

It's a load of tripe. My present has often gone to the charity shop. I'm in a new job so I'm following the party line and have joined in.

I agree - I absolutely hate it. And whatever you do people are sniffy. Bottle of something - they don’t drink. Chocolate- they are on a perpetual diet. Voucher - boring. Bath stuff - they don’t use it/skin issues. To be fair I don’t use toiletries - but I just stash them for the next victim. If you don’t know people well enough, it’s a pointless and stressful task. And if you don’t know them, why are you buying them a present? It’s work for work’s sake. And someone always gets forgotten by the idiot who participates but can’t be bothered.

Just politely refuse if you don't want to take part. If other people don't like that it's their problem.

I dont see how working part time means you don’t know these people. Is it more you don’t actually make an effort to know them. How about if you get your secret Santa name you use it as an excuse to chat more and make friends with your colleagues by asking what the person you got would like?

Secret Santa can work really well with small teams where people know each other really well and it can be really funny and on point.

It’s a total nightmare if you are forced to buy presents for people who you don’t know. You are literally throwing money away. I don’t know why companies do this in that scenario.

If you have to do it just buy something really generic which won’t offend.

Tell the person in charge to use something like Elfster so that everyone can enter ideas of what they’d like and things they definitely don’t want (eg I’m allergic to dairy / I don’t drink alcohol etc)

Last year, I bought lots of little bath-type sets for about £7 for secret Santas, but DH panicked, got confused and took in to work an actual Christmas gift (that had cost £50) and put that in the Secret Santa.

They are a nightmare.

Sorry @Gruffalowings but this made me laugh. Whoever got that Secret Santa must have been pleased!!! Though hopefully it remained a secret or else they might have wondered why he had bought something so expensive!!

I know @Gotabadfeelingaboutthis . It was a disaster from every way you look at it!

Presumably, the person thought we were re-gifting an unwanted present or that it was just tat.

All the secret Santa's we do are supposed to be fun stuff. So if you don't know someone's sense of humour well enough to personalise it then people tend to go with daft stocking fillers like reindeer hat ring toss or racing sprouts. This usually results in an hour or two of everyone laughing joking and having a go with the gifts

Yep I hate it too. I think the worst was when me and the guy I was having a bit of an office fling with were allocated each other

I got him nerf guns (may sound weird but I knew he'd love them and they provided the office entertainment for the day 😅)

He got me... hand warmers. Wtf. It's not like we were even remotely serious but I thought we were mates and would have hoped for something a bit less crap and generic!

That was essentially the end of that fling haha

Lord does no one understand the spirit of Christmas? Anything that generates feelings of "I hate this" has gone badly wrong.

I think all workplaces should do a £5 limit and the item MUST come from a Charity shop! Think of all the extra revenue the charity shops would get. 😊😊

I am with you on the idea to make it charity oriented but a £5 limit makes it even more stressful. It’s harder to find something for £5 that someone will like than it is for £10 or £20. You may as well just request a donation to charity rather than forcing people to buy crappy gifts that others won’t want.

This is a good suggestion.

I also hate workplace secret Santa and haven’t taken part in the one at my work since year 1. I just politely decline with the reason that I already have lots to do at Christmas, and I that I have chosen to give my £10 to charity instead (which I make sure I follow up on!). It’s not about the money or being a Grinch- I just have absolutely no interest in exchanging tat (destined for landfill) with my colleagues (oh god, maybe that does make me a Grinch?! Oh well 😂)