When not even the thought counts.

[wingedorange]

I went out tonight with a couple of the girls from work to get drinks (OHAI, Bahamarita, your mango-y citrus-y deliciousness) and poke around the mall for a bit. I’m more or less done my shopping, except for a few odds and ends here and there. One of those odds and ends was a “Chinese Auction” gift for the work Christmas party. We had a $25.00 limit, so I was just looking for something that might be appealing but was still cheapish. My friends and I wound up in the Kitchen Kapers store because I had wandered in looking for Rachel Ray utensils for my mom. They didn’t have any, but I saw on the sale table this goofy looking thing… it turned out to be shot glasses on a magnetic tray, so they wouldn’t spill. It was on sale for $25. The girls were like, “Buy it, buy it!” because it was quick and easy and universal enough for the company party. And that’s when it dawned on me…

…If I’m out buying the first bullshit gift I see, isn’t everyone else that’s going to that party doing the same thing? And if everyone’s doing the same thing, aren’t I going to wind up with some cracked out gift that someone saw on sale at the “gourmet” store in the mall and thought, “Gee, I can get this for the office party and cross another item off my list!”? And if that’s how we’re buying gifts…what’s the point? Why do we all need to spend $25 we don’t have on some cursory gift that no one wants or needs? Why can’t the company party be more talking and laughing and eating and enjoying everyone’s company? What, no one wants to be there and be forced to socialize with each other, so let’s do a BS Pollyanna and call it a holiday party?

Suddenly I want to go to this party a whole lot less.

/thinly disguised work rant

Mirrored from winged orange.