At this time of year, gifts become the focus of society. Oh, sure, Christmas cheer and blah, blah, blah (can ‘you tell that I could not care less?), but the gifts, though. This is yet another time when I’m firmly on the outside of society. It’s a good thing I don’t work in an office (for many reasons), but this is something that makes me rage every year.
It’s obvious people don’t give a shit about inclusion, no matter how mealy-mouthed they get in expressing DEI is the aim. Over at Ask a Manager, there’s a question about vendor appreciation and what gifts to give in the year of our pandemic (and maybe people not being in the office). Assuming you can’t just give money, most people defaulted to food. Which, and I cannot stress this enough, is a terrible idea if you want to make people feel appreciated. There’s someone in the thread suggesting a hand soap. They even say it’s not good for someone with scent sensitivities, but oh well!!!! Who cares about that, right? They can just regift it so it won’t go to waste!
Here’s the thing about scent sensitivities. I CAN SMELL THAT SHIT THROUGH THE PLASTIC WRAP. So just having the item in my house is bad for me. I found this out when my brother bought scented soap when my parents were here and commented on how great it smelled. I didn’t use it, obviously, but I could still smell it and reacted to it without ever touching it.
So, yeah. If you want to say that you don’t give a shit about someone , yes, give them something that will stink up their house and give them a mild (or not so mild) negative reaction until they get used to it. Honestly, if it were just me, I would toss it–so it would be wasted, anyway.
I am allergic to so many foods and alcohol. I cannot eat chocolate unless it’s specially made, so anything chocolate is out. So is cheese, crackers, bread, and anything with dairy and/or gluten. Cakes, cookies, cupcakes, anything typically festive, OUT. And I don’t see people often enough to spread it around.
I’ve told this story before, but an ex-boss of mine (a terrible boss in many ways, by the way) wen I worked at the county gave me a poinsettia for Christmas as was the custom (for admin assistants at Christmas). I picked it up and my throat instantly closed. I put it as far away from me as possible, but it took some time for the pollen to completely leave my system. I asked my boss not to give me one the next year, but she said she had to because it was tradition.