Work and Kris Kindle

the_monkey · 02-12-2014 4:06pm

Once at a work party I didn't get one, and I was really pissed off cos I had made an effort and got a decent gift.

So I stole a cool Dire Straits best of album that some lick arse had bought the boss ...

class

_Kaiser_ · 02-12-2014 4:07pm

Thankfully we have none of this in the office. We have a Xmas party with free food and drink so you show your face for a few hours and that's it.

Corvo · 02-12-2014 4:08pm

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Thankfully we have none of this in the office. We have a Xmas party with free food and drink so you show your face for a few hours and that's it.

We do the same, but I can't even face that. I'm just going to sit at home watching my home brew bubble in its vessel. Watching...waiting.

diomed · 02-12-2014 5:06pm

Another plus of retirement. You don't have to put up with the Kris Kindle drama queens.

Wanderer2010 · 02-12-2014 5:12pm

Complete waste of time in myu view, being forced to spend any more time than is necessary with people you happened to share the same space with 8 hours a day. If you dont fancy doing it just say you would rather not participate and dont explain yourself. You dont have to mix with your workmates.

Marcusm · 02-12-2014 5:52pm

I got a bottle of vodka and shot glasses, needless to say I didn't have them at the end of the party. I gave an orange lacy thong to a male colleague. At the same party, his girlfriend (office romance) was given the Puppetry of the Penis book. If you're not familiar, Google it. It was amazing to see the combination of horror and genuine excited interest in the book.

TheBeardedLady · 02-12-2014 6:19pm

Golden Discs record vooucher, soap on a rope or Pot Pourri. The classics.

Mesrine65 · 02-12-2014 6:22pm

Corvo wrote: »

Does anyone else's work place do this? We do it annually and I despise the bloody thing. Now don't get me wrong, I don't hate Christmas, but I don't want to pretend I actually like most of the people I work with whom I wouldn't socialise with on a good day, never mind after a long year.

It's €10 per head and while the amount does not matter, it's just the principal.

Am I just being a mangey grinch? Or should I just grit my teeth and pay up? What makes it worse is that it is very difficult to get out of.

No it isn't, man up & tell them you're not interested, failing that a decisive 'FOOK OFF' always works.

Sleepy · 02-12-2014 6:26pm

We do it every year, limit of €20.... My problem with it is that I always get someone I either barely know or can barely tolerate and have yet to get a decent present myself... I like wine, whiskey, most beers and chocolate so I'm hardly difficult to buy for, what the hell, I smoke: a box of 20 costs €10 and mine are usually visible on my desk so the brand would be easily discovered... but no, every year it's some ****e book I've no interest in or mug with a pop culture reference that in no way represents me...

Worst I've ever seen was an overweight guy get given a breast pump. A fella that could take a joke but that one went a bit over the line!

FWIW, I go with the same presents for whoever I get at this stage: a nerf gun. Unless it's one of the older directors, then it's a bottle of whiskey.

Highflyer13 · 02-12-2014 6:30pm

Pain in the arse. We had one last year for 15bob. Was supposed to get the present the night before but went to the pub instead and got caught up in the festivities. Ended up just shamelessly handing €15 to your man the next morning. He was delighted anyway.

LynnGrace · 02-12-2014 6:31pm

It's never been done anywhere I've worked.
I know of a situation, similar to the Slim Fast story above, where someone received a book, 'Improve your IQ' or something along those lines.
Caused huge upset to the recipient, and led to an investigation as to who had given it. That was the last year of KK there, I believe.

blindside88 · 02-12-2014 6:47pm

Neyite wrote: »

Like this one.*

*Might get you fired.

One of the lads on my team was given that last year, he took it very well in fairness

Agricola · 02-12-2014 7:27pm

I pulled my line manager's name out of the hat one year so had to buy her something for this secret Santa thing. She was fit as... and knew it. Opted for the red fluffy novelty handcuffs from Ebay. Seeing her face when she opened them in front of the team was worth double the £3 I paid for them! Plus, Im pretty sure my own expression of shock and amusement was Oscar worthy.

galah · 02-12-2014 7:36pm

Y'all doing it wrong. Just introduce 'crappy santa' where you are forbidden to spend any money (think stuff that sits around your house unused or disliked, the more tacky and awkward the better, think holiday ornaments, tacky photoframes, etc), put it all in a bag, then start rolling dice. Whoever throws a certain number picks a pressie, once everyone has a gift you start unpacking and then swapping.

All have a laugh, no one is offended or stuck with yet another boring dunnes bath n beauty set, and if you dont like your gift you can toss it in the bin without feeling guilty. Problem sorted.

Ilyana 2.0 · 02-12-2014 7:40pm

We always do KK at work, the limit's only a tenner and we all get on well enough so nobody seems to mind. Usually we just buy the person's drink of choice, and token novelty underwear or something. It's all a bit of craic, but nobody's obliged to take part.

This year someone just left a paper cup full of names near the till, and you can just pick one out whenever/if you want. No pressure, and less faff than someone trying to keep track of 20+ pairings.

The only thing that bothers me is that people keep telling each other who they've got. That's not the way it's supposed to go!

To Elland Back · 02-12-2014 8:58pm

Ilyana 2.0 wrote: »

It's all a bit of craic, but nobody's obliged to take part.

The only thing that bothers me is that people keep telling each other who they've got. That's not the way it's supposed to go!

You try telling the sour wans near me that nobody is obliged to take part, you would swear I had told my son about Santa in the middle of the Toy Show (emm, I truthfully did that)

As for everyone knowing who they are getting for, it took 20 minutes today in our place

lertsnim · 02-12-2014 9:02pm

bluewolf wrote: »

The time to object is BEFORE someone has bought you a present

To go into it and then not buy a gift is being a dick. I always say I want no part of it. My only grievance is the reaction I get from some people who think I'm some sort of grinch because I don't like taking part in Secret Santa. They're usually assholes anyway acting like "how dare you ruin this for me?".

02-12-2014 9:16pm

Bassfish wrote: »

I have no problem with the once off €10 present part but in my office they insist on doing this thing where you buy multiple small gifts for the person in the weeks running up to Christmas and then the main one just before Christmas. People boast that they spend €50 or €60 on their person over the month and when I voiced my dislike of this to some colleagues I was called a grinch and asked why I don't like Christmas! Fukking load of bullcrap!

That's a bit over the top.

I enjoy it as it can be s bit of craic and means the 45/50 people in the building all gather for breakfast in run into Xmas. Tho in saying that I get on with most so I socialise with them a lot.

In previous job one year I got a tub of Brylcreem, probably as a dig that I always have my hair sitting extremely gelled and tidy....not only that but it was anti-dandruff Brylcreem, which I deffo don't have a need for!
I figured out who it was too the f*cker, same fella was about 55, had a bath about once a year, wore yellow shirt (that used to be white) and looked scarily like the rat fella of Harry Potter. One other year he bought another fella a bar of soap for KK, he had a great sense on irony so he did but hey it was a bit of entertainment and gave us all something to talk about.....that's the best thing about KK.

LynnGrace · 03-12-2014 9:04am

368100 wrote: »

In previous job one year I got a tub of Brylcreem, probably as a dig that I always have my hair sitting extremely gelled and tidy....not only that but it was anti-dandruff Brylcreem, which I deffo don't have a need for!
I figured out who it was too the f*cker, same fella was about 55, had a bath about once a year, wore yellow shirt (that used to be white) and looked scarily like the rat fella of Harry Potter. One other year he bought another fella a bar of soap for KK, he had a great sense on irony so he did but hey it was a bit of entertainment and gave us all something to talk about.....that's the best thing about KK.

Someone (maybe a long-suffering family member) probably gave them to him

, he sounds like the type who would have needed them, especially the soap, but he stored them, to pass them on as presents.

Badly Drunk Boy · 03-12-2014 9:09am

Corvo wrote: »

Because I would rather cut off my manhood than spend another hour around you sober than I have to, never mind with drink in me when my reduced inhibitions may lead to me showing you out of the building - via a window :pac:

I think it's time for The Christmas Defenestration Song!!!

Gannicus · 03-12-2014 9:15am

Corvo wrote: »

What makes it worse is that it is very difficult to get out of.

I can't stand Christmas and I just said I'm not taking part in it when our work one came up. It's that simple.

Teyla Emmagan · 03-12-2014 9:22am

lertsnim wrote: »

I'd hate to work with you at Christmas time. Why can you not accept some people want no part of this. It might seem totally harmless and a bit of fun for you but for others it is an absolute pain in the hole

Well the present giving happened at the Christmas party. If you weren't going to the party you weren't put in the KK draw, unless you specifically wanted to be. So if you were going to the party it was pretty much given that you had some Christmas spirit and wanted to get involved. We would put the presents on people's places on the table at the start of the meal. That's why it was important that everyone had one. Not much fun to be the only one sitting at your table with no KK present. It was a good ice breaker to be honest. We worked in the same team, but most people would have been out on site, so wouldn't know everyone at the Christmas party. The KK helped 'bring people in' and provided a laugh and a talking point for the night.

xmasking · 03-12-2014 11:49am

Highflyer13 wrote: »

Pain in the arse. We had one last year for 15bob. Was supposed to get the present the night before but went to the pub instead and got caught up in the festivities. Ended up just shamelessly handing €15 to your man the next morning. He was delighted anyway.

I like the idea, as it gets people buying gifts for one another.

xmasking · 03-12-2014 11:50am

I think the idea behind it is fundamentally flawed, capping the amount of spend is too much for me. I like to think people go all out for Christmas presents.

Corvo · 03-12-2014 11:52am

Good news is I basically told the organiser of the KK that I wasn't interested.

Was met with "Oh for Christs Sake it's a bit of a laugh" but further refusals and I'm out!

Normal service is restored!

kylith · 03-12-2014 12:06pm

We have a sign-up sheet, if you want to do it you put down your name, if you don't you don't. Much easier way of going about it.

Neyite · 12-12-2014 4:57pm

Have rules - has to be under €10 and has to be something that you can wear to the Christmas party.

smash · 12-12-2014 5:37pm

Roll up a fiver and place it in a little box with a small bag of baking powder. The write the bosses name on it and dump it under the tree when nobody's looking. Await reaction as boss opens in front of the whole company...

Work and Kris Kindle

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