Office Secret Santa: my homemade jam was a total flop
Editors' DilemmaOctober 28, 2026· Be the first to vote
A story made up by our editors to get the debate going, not a real account.
My side
Every December, my department does a gift exchange: we draw names, $20 budget. This time, I wanted to make it more personal. I made a jar of homemade fig jam, with a hand-drawn label and the recipe written on a pretty card. It took me an entire afternoon. When it was time to open gifts, my coworker unwrapped hers and said “Oh... it’s homemade” with a tight smile. The next day, I found out she’d told people in the break room that she had spent her $20 on a nice throw blanket, and that she felt “kind of shortchanged.” Nobody said anything to my face.
Their side
My coworker explains that the $20 rule exists precisely so everyone gets about what they give. She doesn’t like figs, and a jar of jam, even a pretty one, isn’t a real gift in her eyes. She admits she could have told me directly, but she didn’t want to hurt my feelings in front of the whole team.
So, who's wrong?
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