Christmas etiquette

by Moxy 6 Replies latest jw friends

  • Moxy
    Moxy

    i know its early but this just struck me...
    i dont plan to actually start celebrating xmas, etc. just to rebel. lol, too much effort. but otoh, i dont intend to deliberately snub people anymore, eg i think ill go to the office party this year. problem is i dont know jack about what youre expected to do and its the kind of question i cant ask anywhere else so suggestions appreciated.

    who would u normally be expected to get presents for in your office?
    do u deliver them at the office party? at any time following the holidays?
    how big a gift is considered appropriate?

    thx
    mox

  • wasasister
    wasasister

    I'm new to this as well. I think it depends on the size of your office and if they already have a tradition in place. In larger offices, sometimes employees will draw names for a gift exchange so that you don't have to buy presents for everyone. At my office, we do a candle exchange where each member of the staff buys a candle with a pre-set dollar limit, wraps it, and each person picks one. If you work with someone who has done special things for you, or someone you are "friends" with, you might do something extra. Usually, nothing over $20 in value or it puts the other person on the spot.

    Suggestions: Latte gift certificates; a plant for the desk; picture frame; movie passes.

    Have fun at the party!!

  • digderidoo
    digderidoo

    Moxy

    I would have thought cards would be enough...unless your especially close to your work colleagues. Or may be just give them a bottle of whiskey or wine.

    Some people i've worked with do not even send cards...for them it was all about getting drunk and having a good time.

    Yours Dig

  • joelbear
    joelbear

    Rarely do companies do the official exchange gifts thing anymore. Most people get gifts for people at work they consider friends, but not at the office party.

    hugs

    Joel

  • riz
    riz

    moxy,

    perhaps it's just the jobs that i have chosen,(i like to think i have a gift in this area ), but the office christmas parties that i have attended mainly involved getting hammered. presents took a backseat to the bevvies. heehee

    wearin' my drinking shoes,
    riz

  • ShaunaC
    ShaunaC

    My first Christmas was in 1999. I did not know until right before if I would be able to do it. (I had only been out of the WT for a year) But after my first Thanksgiving with Nick's family, I quickly saw that the holidays for most people are no different than how we treated them (albeit a day or so off)...dinner with the family.

    So I spent both Christmas Eve & Christmas with Nick & his family. The only presents I bought were for Nick. Some of the presents Nick & I opened between the 2 of us at home. He was so impressed he made me rewrap them so he could open them up at his family's house the next night. He faked surprise! His family was so impressed that I knew how to give gifts.......like JW's never do, right?! Even more impressive was that my gifts for Nick were awesome, above & beyond the stuff people give because they have to. They were esspecially for him!

    So I decided then and there that my participation in the holidays would not turn into what I hated seeing in "worldly" people when still a JW. I hated hearing people complain about all the stuff they had to buy for this & that person, just because of the holiday, or just because that person had given them something the year before.

    When I give, I still give with the mentality that I was raised with as a JW.......I give out of pure love and the want to please someone I deeply care for. I will never give a gift just because I have to. I don't have to! For those others who I may not particularly be close to I am more than pleased to give a card showing my appreciation for their friendship.

    I have even tried to encourage Nick to do the same. Last Father's Day he went crazy trying to think of a last minute gift for his dad. He ended up buying something so stupid just to appease the holiday. I told him that if there wasn't anything he knew his dad really wanted, how much better it would be to spare him of a stupid gift he didn't want and instead write a beautiful letter telling him of your appreciation of him being your dad. Isn't that what the holiday was all about anyway!

    The point is, Moxy, do what feels comfortable to you and not what may be expected by other people. Try to find a balance! Don't get caught up in the hype, give because you truly want to give.

    Just my thoughts.....
    Shauna

    P.S. If you would like to do something for your office but not be forced to buy gifts for each individual person, do something nice that the whole office can enjoy like bring in bagels for breakfast, cookies to snack on during the day or take a couple of guys out for a drink. Gifts don't have to have ribbons on them!

  • Moxy
    Moxy

    i certainly will not get hyped over things, just dont want my clumsy efforts coming off looking stupid cuz i dont know what im doing...

    mox

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