The Ladies Christmas party at our church is something that I look forward to every year. Last year they announced that we would be having a white elephant gift exchange. To me this equates to "gag" gift. My mind was reeling with ideas about what I could bring. I imagined what all the other women would come up with and how much we would all be laughing when we opened them. The night of the party the presents were divvied out amongst the 30 women and on the count of 3 everyone tore into their packages. I got some St. Nicholas square appetizer plates that were still in the box. They didn't seem very funny to me and as I looked around the room at all the other gifts every single one of them was some kind of nice home interior piece, or Christmas decoration. No gag gifts whatsoever. I was so confused, but most importantly I thought about the recipient of my present. Then I spotted a middle aged woman cocking her head with a gift bag that including a Tae Bo video accompanied by some Zip Fizz energy powder.
Yeah, that would be my gift. I felt so bad for her that I went over to offer her the appetizer plates that I received. Without any explanation I said "Here, I will trade you. Take my gift, I insist." She declined the offer because THAT WAS THE GIFT THAT SHE BROUGHT. I wish I could say that at least we got some good laughs out of it, only it wasn't funny to her at all. I pulled some strings (I've got connections) and I got her a different gift that she could get more enjoyment out of. Although, I don't know what could be more enjoyable than a sweaty bald guy in spandex.
This year when they sent out the invitations they specified that each guest should bring something white and that it should be something that “you would like to receive”. Well, I can take a hint and this time I brought an assortment of premium white chocolate candies. In return I scored some white chocolate in the gift I received along with a candle. No sweaty bald guys this time.
5 comments:
Thank you for the laugh! Ok, the lady who received the gift didn't think it was funny, but I do. Probably because I think the way you do & that's what I would have done! :)
This year's gift was nice and all, but I still think the Tae Bo tape was priceless!
Merry Christmas!
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who has done this. I'm always the one who doesn't get the memo on things like that! :-)
Have a great Christmas!
I love reading about these kind of Christmas gift exchanges.
your story gave me an idea. Since the invitation this year said to bring a gift you would like to recieve...how fun would it be to host a gift exchange with those exact instructions and then when everyone arrived, tell them to open the gift they brought and say merry christmas to me! Now that's the 'perfect' way to get what you want for Christmas :-D
Great story!!
Oh my gosh! It's too bad the lady who got your gift last year didn't think it's funny, because I think that's hilarious! And seriously, who would even think that "white elephant gift" would mean bring a WHITE gift, not a FUNNY gift??? :)
Thanks for linking up, and Merry Christmas!
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