Is it just me, or do White Elephants seem to be popping up all over the place this year? I’ve already been invited to three holiday parties where guests have been instructed to a White Elephant gift, either the kind where you find something pointless or silly from your house or the kind where you buy something generic for $5 or $10, like a candle.
The explanation for these typically has been some reference to the suffering economy, and White Elephant gifts are "easier" or "cheaper". I may sound like Scrooge here, but to me, they just seem like more waste. I don’t like the idea of a gift exchange where I end up with something I’m going to eventually put in a Goodwill bin. Yes, the pull-something-out-of-your-attic White Elephant exchanges can be fun, but only with the right personalities. Time and money are the two things none of us seem to have much of these days, so we might as well save both of these things and spend our holiday parties relaxing and enjoying ourselves while we have the chance.
So there you have it. Bah humbug.
