Bah-Humbug! or Woo-Hoo!: I'm on the fence.

I don't hate Christmas--look, I didn't write "xmas"!--but I do despise Obligation Christmas Gifts.

I don't know if someone has coined a clever name for what I'm talking about, but I know you know what I mean if you've every worked somewhere--especially an office--with other people at Christmastime. I refer to the practice of giving a gift (of something, usually something small and inexpensive) to everyone who works with you or in your department or at your shop. (And, I mean everyone, whether you know them or they know you, regardless of whether you've ever spoken to each other....EVERYONE!)

I don't hate Christmas gifts. I love to give gifts. I love to receive gifts. I love gifts that mean something: a gift that I know (or think I know) the recipient will enjoy or get a chuckle out of.

Obligation Christmas Gifts (OCG) are the opposite of meaningful gifts. I find them so impersonal they are depressing.....unless the gift to everyone is candy, baked goods or one of those cocoa mix deals packaged with a pretty, seasonal mug--those options are all A-OK to me.

Last year my place of work was knee-deep in OCG. This year has been okay--I credit/blame the bleak economy for co-workers eliminating unnecessary spending.

This morning, however, when I got to work there was an envelope on my chair. It was an envelope addressed to....well, "To:". Yes, "To:", no name, just "To:".

Note: If you can't be bothered to write a person's name on the envelope you are about to give, or hey, maybe you don't even know the name, you are about to give an obligatory gift. Please stop immediately and reconsider what you are about to do.

I opened the envelope meant for "To:" and found a pretty card with 2 lottery tickets inside.

Lottery tickets...damn!

I was all ready to despise the giver for the "To:", surely the height of impersonal giving, but lottery tickets dampened my righteous indignation. I think lottery tickets are a decent gift. Give lottery tickets and you could be giving someone the ticket out of a lifetime of working for the man.

So, I'm torn: Does "To:" trump lottery tickets? Or do lottery tickets compensate for "To:"?

This won't change my overall view of OCG--please, just say no to OCG--but I'd be willing to put lottery tickets in the acceptable list with candy, baked goods and cocoa mix.