Santa isn’t dirty | Lake Neuron

Money is tight this year, and I had already been toying with the idea of not participating in our annual office gift exchange so that I could concentrate on gifts for family members.

Then, it was announced that, instead of drawing names as in the past, we would play “Dirty Santa” on the day of the Christmas dinner. That sealed the deal; I’m not playing “Dirty Santa.”

I assume most of you know the rules to “Dirty Santa.” Each person brings a wrapped, generic gift. Turn numbers are randomly assigned to the participants, and each participant, when it’s his turn, can either choose a wrapped gift from under the tree, unwrap it and show it to the other participants or else “steal” an unwrapped gift from someone who’s already played. A popular gift can only be “stolen” twice — the third person to possess it gets it for keeps.

The first and only time I played “Dirty Santa” was a couple of years ago, at an informal holiday gathering. I brought what I thought was a nice, carefully-chosen cast iron fajita pan gift set; I walked away with a cheap and tacky gag gift, a rubber finger labeled as an “automatic nose picker” or some such. I grinned and tried to be a good sport, but I was both embarrassed and disappointed. My friends urged me to bring the gag gift back for the next year’s party, but I don’t think I could do that to someone in good conscience. I threw it away, and I was actually sort of relieved when I had a schedule conflict with that same “Dirty Santa” party the next year.

“Dirty Santa” is a game, and most people enjoy it. I don’t begrudge anyone the chance to play it.

But it’s not gift-giving. It’s about what you get, not what you give. It’s a form of gambling, so to speak. And since it’s not about gift-giving, it’s not really related to Christmas. It might just as well be a custom at Halloween or April Fool’s Day.

Now, I realize that drawing names at the office has its own drawbacks. There are times I’ve drawn the name of someone from another department whom I barely even knew. You can ask their immediate co-workers for suggestions, but that kind of gift is largely a shot in the dark. It is, however, a well-intentioned shot in the dark, at least an attempt to honor the spirit of gift-giving that personnifies the holiday.

http://www.fixinsupper.com Laura Creekmore

I'm with you. I HATE Dirty Santa and look for any opportunity to avoid playing. I was supposed to play at a holiday party earlier this week and completely forgot to bring a gift. I was just helping myself out subconsciously, don't you think??
http://dogandgod.blogspot.com DogBlogger

I agree. Our Sunday School class, and several others in our church, have done these games in the past. I'm assuming most are continuing the tradition. This year, though, our class has asked that each person bring what they would've spent on that and give it to our Food Share ministry to give them a good start to 2009.
http://www.gryfalia.com Kristi

We've done a Secret Santa game in our unit for years and it's always lots of fun. There are about 20 of us, and we each fill out a card of what we like – food, candy, hobbies, etc. Then, during the week before our unit party, we secretly give small gifts and try to find the most creative way to have them delivered. At the party, we give our final gift, normally a little bigger than the ones during the week, and try to guess. There is a $20 limit for all of the gifts combined. Once everyone has opened their gifts and guessed, we reveal who the secret Santas were.

I've played Dirty Santa before and enjoyed it, but we had a $10 limit and most of us knew they were either going to be candy or funny gifts, so I don't think anyone was disappointed. Lucky person who got your cast iron set!!
http://www.gryfalia.com Kristi

We've done a Secret Santa game in our unit for years and it's always lots of fun. There are about 20 of us, and we each fill out a card of what we like – food, candy, hobbies, etc. Then, during the week before our unit party, we secretly give small gifts and try to find the most creative way to have them delivered. At the party, we give our final gift, normally a little bigger than the ones during the week, and try to guess. There is a $20 limit for all of the gifts combined. Once everyone has opened their gifts and guessed, we reveal who the secret Santas were.

I've played Dirty Santa before and enjoyed it, but we had a $10 limit and most of us knew they were either going to be candy or funny gifts, so I don't think anyone was disappointed. Lucky person who got your cast iron set!!