Birthday Presents

Why must people in offices always, always, always give presents to each other for birthdays and Christmas? I, personally, think it's more of a pain in the ass than a nice thing to do (except if it's my birthday of course). Especially in work situations where you get along with the people you work with, but don't care about them enough to actually put thought (or money) into a decent present. Other offices are probably pretty bad about this stuff, but the shop takes it to a different level. Let me explain.

First of all, my larger organization celebrates EVERYTHING. Not only do we get a bazillion days off, but we party and celebrate anything and everything we can (Would the shit hit the fan for you if you found out that the place where you spent most of your childhood had several extensive collections of fine liquor?). We're that bad. We have a Christmas party, celebrations for marriages, baby showers, wedding showers, parties for people who leave, reunion parties, fund raising - you name it, we have it, and we have booze. That being said, you can probably start to appreciate the festive atmosphere here, and understand why we're so big on gift-giving.

My problem is that I just never know what to get, and sometimes I don't even know that a certain situation deserves a gift, or that you should be getting certain people gifts. For example, there is a lady who comes into our office quite frequently who we work with on and off. She knows us well, but she isn't really part of our little operation. Christmas came around last year, and she bought me a gift! And, she gave it to me on the last day before we broke for vacation! I had nothing for her! How was I supposed to know to get her something? I already get something for Babs, the Director, MJ, and even a couple other people. Sigh, I felt like a jackass.

When I do get presents for one of my coworkers, I have trouble figuring out what would be good for the said compadre. Movie tickets? Gift certificates? Perfume? Wine? I never know what they would like, and I always feel like I'd get something horrible. One year my coworker gave me a serving tray for drinks, and a dinky one at that. What am I supposed to do with a dinky serving tray? So, as this year rolls up on fall, I shall start planning. Babs birthday is coming soon, and Christmas is just beyond that. I gotta find the perfect present.