# Another grab bag, another piece o' .... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 18, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650 "2013-12-18T15:06:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/21 "2013-12-18T22:09:47Z")
My friends and I do the White Elephant exchange every year. It’s supposed to be “gag” gifts, but most people do get something reasonably nice, if funny/clever/odd. This year, though, someone brought 4 used books (Crystal Reports for Dummies, Parliament of Whores, and two others), that really brought down some scorn. As the host, I ended up taking them at the end, so the person who had them wasn’t totally screwed. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/22 "2013-12-18T22:27:19Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > [Here ya go.](http://www.target.com/p/hello-kitty-toaster-kt5211/-/A-730762#prodSlot=medium_1_1) (Just checked the reviews, BTW - some complaints of faint kitty-imprint, and one review saying turn it up to at least 3 to see the picture.) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/23 "2013-12-18T22:40:11Z")
I’ve told this one before but I used to work at a social services agency and we got items donated. Of course we were not allowed to help ourselves to them. Secret Santa rolls around, with a $10 maximum. I take the time to find something pretty nice for my person, but the person who gets me, who by the way was our big boss and paid three times what we were, had wrapped up a donated item and given it to me. With some spiel about how it was appropriate for me. What an asshole. Oh and the frustration of not being able to say anything to her face! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/24 "2013-12-18T22:50:02Z")
I once got a giftwrapped bottle of what I thought might be wine or a good bottle of beer, only to unwrap it and find [the bottle on the right.](http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=large+tabasco+bottle&id=39A07D8F1D55AE633F72333888F332ADE7FEEF4E&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=39A07D8F1D55AE633F72333888F332ADE7FEEF4E&selectedIndex=0) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/25 "2013-12-18T23:01:57Z")
I was working data entry at a place many years ago when my floor got together for a Secret Santa. The guy who had my name didn’t come to work that day so, being the only one without a present, I left the party area and went back to my cubicle. The rest of the group came by a few minutes later. They chipped together and got me a gift certificate package (two tickets, two drinks, and a popcorn) for the movie theater a block over. Took my future SO out with those. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/26 "2013-12-18T23:04:08Z")
At our gift exchange last year there were only 2 non alcohol gifts. This year I’m bringing beer from [Oust brewery](https://www.facebook.com/NiagaraOastHouseBrewers). I expect it to be very popular. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/27 "2013-12-18T23:50:51Z")
> [@GrizzRich](#): > > I participated in an office Christmas Party for four consecutive years during which a gift given in year one was re-gifted for the next three years. > GAH! …it wouldn’t have been that annoying, if it hadn’t been a puppy… ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/28 "2013-12-18T23:52:37Z")
The gift exchange I am participating in this year is not through my job, the participants are my immediate family. A $30 limit was set, and these are the gifts that I will be anonymously gifting: [http://store.theonion.com/p-5425-gold-medal-winner-bottle-opener.aspx](http://store.theonion.com/p-5425-gold-medal-winner-bottle-opener.aspx) [http://store.theonion.com/p-5350-mr-bacon-air-freshener.aspx](http://store.theonion.com/p-5350-mr-bacon-air-freshener.aspx) I am well under the $30 limit, I’d better bring beer, too. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/29 "2013-12-19T00:04:01Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > [http://store.theonion.com/p-5425-gold-medal-winner-bottle-opener.aspx](http://store.theonion.com/p-5425-gold-medal-winner-bottle-opener.aspx) > [http://store.theonion.com/p-5350-mr-bacon-air-freshener.aspx](http://store.theonion.com/p-5350-mr-bacon-air-freshener.aspx) Those are great, as is the Hello Kitty toaster. Maybe we should have a “Help Me Find Some Over The Top Gifts” thread. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/30 "2013-12-19T00:45:30Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > …it wouldn’t have been that annoying, if it hadn’t been a puppy… …and if they had bothered to open the box before regifting it the next year. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/31 "2013-12-19T01:05:19Z")
At one embassy party we did that stupid thing where you bring a wrapped gift, then draw a number. The first person chooses a gift, second person can take that away or choose a different gift, etc. I had wrapped up the most hideous thing I owned, a brass candlestick holder attached (badly) to some sort of stone base, that I managed to somehow acquire in Egypt. The best part of the evening was when the one guy I really hated ended up with this POS. The only really useful thing I saw there that night was a bottle of Absolut, which got taken away repeatedly. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/32 "2013-12-19T01:06:07Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Marcy unwrapped a Hello Kitty lava lamp… Anyone can feel free to get me one of [these](http://www.2dayblog.com/images/2008/january/hellokitty_ar15assault_2.jpg). Either the gun or the girl. I’m not picky. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/33 "2013-12-19T01:19:26Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I once got a giftwrapped bottle of what I thought might be wine or a good bottle of beer, only to unwrap it and find [the bottle on the right.](http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=large+tabasco+bottle&id=39A07D8F1D55AE633F72333888F332ADE7FEEF4E&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=39A07D8F1D55AE633F72333888F332ADE7FEEF4E&selectedIndex=0) I’d take that in a heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/34 "2013-12-19T03:02:47Z")
In our department’s white-elephant grab bag I ended up with a scratch ‘n’ dent tin box of nuts that will be regifted in the family grab bag while saving me time, thought, effort, and money. Company-wide we have a secret Santa thing with a $10 limit and I drew this lady I barely know, so I asked her what she wanted. First came beer then she said wine, something like Moscato because it goes down fast. Did I mention that I work with a bunch of drunks? Anyway, I figured that if she liked that musky swill she would _love_ some Manischewitz Concord Grape. I mean, she’s over 40 and it’s time to start with the grandma (if your grandma’s a hobo) wine. Since that was only $5.46 and I wasn’t sure she’d like it they were closing out quarts of a beer from El Salvador for $1.59. This afternoon she lost the bidding on some mango vodka in our silent auction and the store had a fifth of some mango liqueur the color of her hair for two bucks, so I got that, too. But I was still under the limit and they were closing out a not-too-disgusting Pinot Grigio for $2.99, so I got it as insurance. Hope she likes it and appreciates how much over the spending limit I went. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/35 "2013-12-19T03:44:57Z")
> [@beatlejuice](#): > > How about a freakin’ card shuffler… for two decks! I got my grandpa one of those for Christmas this year, and I think it’s an awesome gift. For him, at any rate. He can still deal, but his hands shake too badly for him to shuffle, so he has to have my aunt do it for him. I can’t give him back his ability to drive, or take care of his own lawn, or walk without a cane/walker…but shuffling his own cards is a piece of his independence I can give back to him. I would have paid 5 times as much as I did for that. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/36 "2013-12-19T03:53:42Z")
I’m working at a different office than last year, and they do a white elephant exchange, so I joined in even though I’m not much for that sort of thing. My contribution was a boxed set of Elvis mugs (stills from one of his Hawaiian flicks) from Big Lots, complete with an Elvis-labeled packet of hot chocolate (I can just imagine The King sitting around Graceland, sipping hot chocolate, can’t you?) The mugs proved popular, getting stolen twice. I ended up with a knockoff Rabbit corkscrew, which got stolen by the admin assistant, then ended up with one of [these](http://nerdapproved.com/approved-products/weekend-contest-win-one-of-four-toilet-coffee-mugs/) (toilet coffee mug, if you don’t feel like clicking through). To my complete amazement and relief, this was stolen, then stolen again from the person who took it off me. I completed the circle by stealing back the corkscrew, which clearly disappointed the admin a bit. Later on, I saw the admin walk by my office. I said, “here”, and handed her the corkscrew, which clearly made her happy. All in all, not a bad day. ---
**Author:** ![beatlejuice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@beatlejuice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beatlejuice)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/37 "2013-12-19T14:13:10Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I’m curious… is a card shuffler something that obviously no one in your peer group would want? Or are there lots of card players among them, and you happen to not be one of them? The exchange was the same as the one explained by CHEFGUY. Anyone could’ve stolen it. Since I was the second one to pick, and NO ONE stole it from me, um…yeah no one would want it! We suspect the “giver” was the same person who brought a box of Shoprite cookies to the cookie party. You know, the party where you’re supposed to bring homemade goods. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/38 "2013-12-19T14:34:46Z")
I usually get the bad gift. Last year I got a day planer. Yes a 2013 day planner. They still make these? I’m sure it would be stolen if it were 1983! ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/39 "2013-12-19T15:01:28Z")
> [@beatlejuice](#): > > Please don’t include me in your holiday grab bag. This year I brought a lovely bottle of Italian Liquor. Guess what I got. GO AHEAD, GUESS! How about a freakin’ card shuffler… for two decks! Imagine my shock and awe upon unwrapping in front of 15 snickering onlookers. This would be a fine gift if I owned a casino. but I don’t. Last year, I brought a sterling bracelet and got a canister full of peanuts in return. I’m done with this idiocy. The grab bag gods don’t look upon me favorably. :mad: I don’t even drink, and some asshole got me a bottle of liquor for Christmas! My mom died of alcoholism! What is wrong with that guy?? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650/40 "2013-12-19T15:06:35Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > I don’t even drink, and some asshole got me a bottle of liquor for Christmas! My mom died of alcoholism! What is wrong with that guy?? :mad: Did this person know that you didn’t drink and what your mother died of? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-grab-bag-another-piece-o/676650.md?page=3)