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Pretensions was left with a very bad taste in her mouth by the attitude of people at a recent workplace Secret Santa. The Secret Santa idea, for those not familiar with it involves participants selecting people to buy for, usually by drawing names out of hat. There is usually a budget - $10 in this case, and the person receiving the gift does not know who has bought it for her. P’s workplace used to practice a double-blind variant of this every year, where everyone bought a generic gift and labelled it with a number, then it was pure luck of the draw whose gift you ended up with. However, this usually led to lots of unhappiness, since gifts desired by a 30-year-old female manager, might not have been the choice of a 50-year-old male warehouse packer. Since P’s department was left in charge of the exchange this year, she suggested and helped implement a more traditional SS, where names were picked from a hat. To help the situation even more, she designed and helped to print out wishing tree lists, where everyone could, if they wanted, wish for up to 3 items that they’d like to receive in the exchange. The little coloured trees were then hung on the company tree, adding to the festive aura.

During the gift exchange itself, P noticed that her young giftee was looking a little down at the mouth. Not liking to see someone unhappy at what was supposed to be a joyous occasion, P asked what the matter was. “My gift is less than $10", came the stunning reply. Now, this person had asked for a very specific gift mug as her first wish and Ferrero Rocher chocolates as her second. P, upon proceeding to the shop, noticed that the requested mug was on discount at $6.50. Not wanting to shortchange the person, she had bought a small pack of Ferrero Rocher chocs and filled half the mug with them. The total value of the gift? $9.62. This person was complaining because her gift was all of 30 cents short of $10. P then revealed that she was the gift giver and tried to explain things to her giftee, only to be met with a storm of protests and a detailed costing. Can you believe that? P is now considering buying a large box of chocolates and gifting it to that young Singaporean along with a note that says “These are a gift from my heart. For every one of these you enjoy, please ensure that another is given to a homeless person, someone in an old age home, or the next beggar you see. I hope that some day you will understand the spirit of X’mas”.

I found the following short story on the Holidayspot (author anonymous) and thought that I’d leave you with it. Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Reggie’s brother gave him an automobile as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve Reggie came out of his office, and saw a street urchin admiring his shiny new car.

"Is this your car, Mister?" he asked.

Reggie nodded in affirmation, "My brother gave it to me for Christmas." The boy was surprised. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you anything? Boy, I wish..." He hesitated. Reggie knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like the one Reggie has.

But what the lad said was far beyond Reggie’s expectation.

"I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that."

For a few seconds words failed Reggie and then he impulsively added, "Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?"

"Oh yes, I'd love that."

After a short ride, the boy turned towards Reggie. His eyes were glowing and he said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?" Reggie smiled a little. He thought he understood what the lad wanted. He wanted to show it off to his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Reggie was wrong again.

"Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked. He ran up the steps. In a little while Reggie heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little brother who was physically challenged. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car. "There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm going to give you one just like it...then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about."

Reggie got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. His brother whose eyes were gleaming with joy climbed in beside him and the three of them embarked on a memorable holiday ride.

That Christmas Eve, Reggie learned what Jesus meant when he said: "It is more blessed to give..."

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