Beware the White Elephant

A few days before our last day before the Christmas break at work, my boss announced that we would be having a White Elephant party and it was going to be mandatory. This made everyone upset because we are here to make money, not spend it, but the maximum that they wanted us to spend on gifts was $10. I had never really participated in a White Elephant gift exchange before. I had been invited, but I had never gone because I never know what to get for people I know let alone what to get for someone I don’t know. I was excited for this opportunity in which I would have no choice but to go. (Do one thing that scares you everyday, and I was nervous).

In case you are unfamiliar with a White Elephant party, the rules are very simple. Everybody brings a gift. You put all of the gifts under the tree. I don’t know if they do this the same with every party, but for my work party we pulled numbers. We decided that a gift can only be stolen 3 times. Then we go from number to number until everybody has a gift. So the first person goes and gets a gift from under the tree. It doesn’t matter which gift they choose. They open it. Then person 2 can either steal that gift or pick another one from the tree. If person 2 steals the gift, then person one can get another gift from under the tree. If it’s farther down the line, person one can choose to steal another gift from someone else who has gotten one also. Once the gift has been stolen 3 times it is out of play and that person is stuck with that gift no matter what comes up next. There is also no steal backs. Meaning if someone stole it, you can’t have it back. The game keeps going until everyone has a gift.

I settled on buying this little tin of cookies that was shaped like a gingerbread man. I figured it was very Christmas and it would be a nice gift for a man and a woman. It was nowhere near the $10 limit, so I felt nice about it. I wrapped it up and got ready for the party.

We got to the party at the end of the work day and there was so much food. Our boss had the whole thing catered. We placed the gifts under the tree and got a plate. We sat down and listened to all of the announcements and people who needed to speak because it technically was a work meeting that they decided to turn into a work party. Then the game was on. We all picked a number. I got lucky number 13. I knew that I was in a pretty good position with not being number one or the last one to go.

There were some really lovely gifts being picked up and stolen before my turn. I sat and watched as people opened and revealed some great gifts. Then someone opened up this Nestle Quick gift set. Just seeing that yellow and blue box transported me back to the happier and simpler times of my childhood. I watched as others stole the gift set, over and over, and it came down to the last steal. I prayed under my breath that no one else would steal it before I could. I knew that it would be mine if I stole it. Nobody else could.

My turn came and nobody had stolen it. YES! I was so happy, I marched right over to my coworker and snatched it as though she had stolen it from me. She glared at me as though I was a true thief, and I just shrugged and sat back in my seat. Can’t steal it back.

I was so entranced with the gift set, that I had forgotten that my gift that I had purchased was still under the tree. I was nervous. I don’t know why. Nobody would know what I bought but me. It did feel like my gift was not as nice as some of these others, but who would know that it came from me.

I watched as there was steal after steal. They especially came hard for a few of my coworkers. Some of the other gifts were not so nice and some of my coworkers went home with gifts they would never have wanted for themselves, but that is the name of the game. When you get something that people don’t want, nobody is going to steal and you get stuck with it.

Finally, a coworker picked up my gift. I tried not to look guilty as they opened it and showed it off to everybody. I pretended to be just finding out what it was with everybody else. Then I thought about it. My gift wasn’t as bad as the N Sync dolls that some of my coworkers wound up with. At least this coworker, who is not particularly close to me would be able to eat the cookies and use the tin once it was done. What would they do with the dolls?

The game kept going. In the end, the coworker that I had stolen the gift set from had one of the crummier gifts. I began to feel very guilty that I had gotten the gift that I really wanted and I had stolen it from someone who did not get a gift they could love. I mentioned this guilt to another coworker, and she put it into perspective for me. It is a game. You either win or you lose, but everybody walks away with something, which makes it a better game than most of the ones we play.

White Elephant parties are meant to be fun. I must admit, I had a blast watching people steal and be stolen from over and over. I found it hilarious how some people tried to make their gifts mean more to them than it really did so that others might try to steal it. We chanted for others to steal. We cheered when certain people were stolen from. We booed when someone stole a gift that was so perfect for the person they stole it from. It put me in the mindset of that Office episode where Michael didn’t like his gift so he changed the party to a Yankee Swap, which is another name for the same game, but it was just an overall good time, and I would do it again, so watch your gifts this holiday season. This girl has a taste for the White Elephant.