Is my Secret Santa present that bad?

Posted by balabalamagic1@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 64 comments

I recently started a new job, and this was my first time joining the office Secret Santa. I thought it would be a fun, happy occasion where we exchange gifts, and personally, I believe that even if a gift isn’t exactly what I want, I’d still be grateful because unless you tell people directly, they can’t really know your preferences. Besides, at our age, most of us can buy what we want ourselves, so Secret Santa is more about the thought than the item. I drew the head of department’s name. I’m not close with her, and she’s very wealthy, living in a bungalow, so honestly I didn’t think she needed anything. The budget was £20, and since I’m just starting out on minimum wage, I tried my best within that limit. I chose practical items: fluffy socks, chocolate & marshmallows and a hand care set. On the day of the exchange, she didn’t look impressed. Later, I heard she went around saying her Secret Santa gave her “cheap and personal stuff” and that she would have preferred one single item she really wanted instead of several smaller gifts. Then a colleague told me there were rumors that I gave the cheapest gift of all. Someone else had gifted a mind game book worth less than £3, so I suspect this rumor might have been started by another woman in the department who has spread things about me before. I even overheard her saying she would give stationeries, so it could have been her gift, not mine. I’m a quiet person, so no one told me about this directly until my friendly colleague did. Now I’m left wondering,. Did I really do something wrong by giving her something “personal”? I stayed within the budget, I tried to be thoughtful, and I stretched my tight finances to participate. Instead of feeling festive, I just feel depressed and regret joining at all.