But the problem I’ve found is that any bookmark thicker than very thin cardboard either falls out more easily, or damages the binding of the book if it gets compressed. I’ve got a few very nice bookmarks, they all sit in a desk drawer while I use a scrap of paper to actually keep my page.
I definitely understand that it’s fun for people who enjoy the gift exchanges!
One of my issues with it is that it’s often more work for a non-casual-gift-person like myself to opt out. Some offices really put the pressure on to participate. For things like club meetings, I have seen with my own eyes that one person decided to opt out, and the arrived for the meeting expecting to sit pleasantly while the other people did the exchange. Then, the exchange organizer pressed an extra gift upon the opt-outer! The comment was along the lines of “oh, I really didn’t want you to feel left out so I brought an extra little something to give you!” Which seems doubly bad for the opt-outer.
From one point of view, my wife really couldn’t have cared less whether anyone else liked the bookmarks or tossed them. She would have far preferred not to have had to give - or get - anything. Actually, what she wanted to do with these folk is discuss books. What a bitch! :smack:
On reflection, I guess she would have preferred that the folk liked the gift she chose, because if not, she might as well have torched $50-75. Would have far preferred to hand to the next homeless person we encounter…
We both detest waste.
I think of White Elephant as a subset of Yankee swap. Yankee swap has the potential of being a new item under a certain dollar amount, while a White Elephant Yankee swap specifies that the gifts be regifts/unwanted items, etc.
Well, we call them White Elephants, but I’ve seen them run both ways. Usually there’s at least a specification that the “gift”, while it may be unwanted by YOU, is still not trash. It’s something you may not want, like say scented candles, but that someone else might be delighted to get. Hence the fun - everything finds a home. My favorite gift was a giant Halloween spider (think 4 feet across) that someone did not want. I loved it. The kids thought it was awesome. It even ended up on the Christmas tree. 
Hey, I’m kind of with the OP. If I wanted it, I’d have already bought it, and I didn’t, so therefore I don’t want it, so don’t give it to me.
However, I have spent my life pretty much curbing this and my other antisocial tendencies in the interests of appearing normal to the general world at large. And I think I’ve succeeded.
I believe this gift thing I have stems from my childhood, when we got one of my cousins a very cool game, in return for which I got…a fucking manicure set. (I was like 9 years old. I think this was something my aunt wished she’d got, as a child.) And then I had to sit down and write a nice thank-you letter before I could use it, like I was ever going to use it. (I didn’t.)
Best bookmark IMO: Fresnel magnifier. Thin, and you can use it to read, in extreme cases, okay it doesn’t help that much if you’re reading the whole book, but at least it’s thin, and if you’re just looking up a paragraph in some computer manual, it’s great.
I have it lucky in my work group. We don’t do a Christmas gift exchange. We do celebrate birthdays, however, with a big box full o’ trinkets and sweets. Fortunately you can opt out of the birthday gift box, and no one thinks less of me for it or puts any pressure on me to take part. A few other staff members opt out. Like the OP, I hate the waste and expense of buying or recieving crap that will end up in a landfill. It makes me sad and frustrated. I too am trying to pare down my stuff.
Now, one thing I do have is a nice collection of bookmarks, so I would have loved the gift Dinsdale’s wife brought to the book club. Most of my bookmarks, however, are found. I work in a library and frequently find bookmarks, often nice, hand-made ones, in books and on the reading tables. One of my prize finds was a beautiful bookmark of inlaid wood, undoubtedly from the company that **Dung Beetle **linked to above! IMHO that is a great gift.
Those are stunning! I like bookmarks as well. I buy one when we go places I want to remember, or if someone gave me one, it would remind me of them. I got my mom a bookmark made of redwood from our last vacation and she uses it all the time. For the right person, a nice bookmark is a treasure.
However, I do agree about giving and getting junk. Every year my cousin insists on our families trading gifts. I’d give her kid something anyway, but the exchanges between the adults are so annoying. She gives us weird things we don’t use, and she probably thinks the same of what I give them. I’ve asked her if we could please not exchange gifts between the adults, but “It’s Christmas!! :(” :rolleyes:
She and her family moved to Europe so I thought, thank goodness, it’s over! No, a few weeks ago she advised me she’s sending gifts, the implication being I’m supposed to send gifts there. :smack: I just sent stuff for the kid, which I was going to do anyway, and hope she gets the message.
I realized I mostly just ranted and didn’t actually address the OP in my last post. :o I’m not a fan of such exchanges, either, where people give each other random crap. With certain friends, we’ll exchange very small gifts. If I do get stuck in larger exchanges, I get a nice food item like quality chocolate and figure if the giftee doesn’t want it, they’ll probably know someone who will.
Usually, I toss the really bad stuff and take the better crap to Goodwill in the hopes someone else will want it. Occasionally, though, we’ll participate in a neighborhood yard sale so if I know one’s coming up I’ll hang onto things. Some people do appreciate the unused items like dish towels, decorative soaps and scented candles. One year a lady came through and cleared me out of the gifted stuff, saying “These will be wonderful for gifts!!”
The cycle continues. At least by making the rounds of gifting circles the crap’s staying out of the landfill…
It is so frustrating. Most of the family is more strapped than ever this year, but we’ve got to go on celebrating just the way we always have because “It’s Christmas!” One year we did draw names among the adults, but someone didn’t do his part and someone else got left out and now we can never try to be sensible again.