Worker refuses to participate in Secret Santa at job ever again after unboxing the gift he received

The Christmas season calls for the tradition of Secret Santa gift exchange between friends, family members and colleagues. While many people put a lot of thought and care into curating a gift for someone, others seem to participate in these events just for the sake of it. The quality and their choices while picking a gift show how less they care about the person who is getting gifts. A TikTok user, who goes by @star_hollywood on the platform, shared one of those absurd Secret Sants gift unboxing moments he had to go through, which completely soured his festive mood.

The video he made about the Secret Santa gift exchange at his workplace went viral on TikTok and it highlighted the lack of consideration someone had put into curating a gift for him. He vents his frustration and disappointment after revealing what his co-worker gifted him. On the other hand, he had put a lot of effort into preparing his gift to a colleague. "I will not be participating at Secret Santa anymore in any job, any workplace, ever again," he declares, keeping the camera focused on a green gift box secured with a shiny stick-on bow at the top.

"Last Friday, everybody was supposed to bring the gift," he explains. "I went all out my way. I put Christmas lights on the bag, the Santa paper. I had all kinds of stocking stuffers down in the bag. I put bells on the gift bag. The lady that I got, I went over and beyond." The man was genuinely excited about the Christmas gift exchange and came prepared wearing his ugliest Christmas sweater. But little did he know, his excitement was about to dissolve into a whole lot of disappointment.

Many people might argue that all these gift exchange traditions had dampened the holiday spirit with an overdose of consumerism but the man explained why he decided to be thoughtful while preparing his gifts. He remarked that many employees at his office might not even have families and friends outside the workplace to exchange gifts with or maybe they don't usually receive presents.

"I'm excited, you know, it's Christmas time, some people don't even get a gift and Secret Santa sometimes may just get them one gift. So, I make sure I always go over and beyond," he says in the clip. "So, long story short, everybody getting their gifts, everybody exchanging. The lady came up to me, she said, 'Your Secret Santa didn't come to work today, but come Monday and I have your gift'."

"All right, cool, no big deal," the man recalled. "I get to work today. I got my gift y'all. She hands me my gift, I open it up and this is what I have." The guy finally reveals the content of the box, which is nothing special with an assortment of miniature chocolate candy bars. "Now, mind you, the limit was $25. Now, I know Reese's and Hershey's and Mr. Goodbar, I know they can be kind of on the expensive tip, but I said, well, $25. Maybe she spent a little bit of money on the bow and the box because the box is kind of fancy. But y'all, I get a box of candy."

Fellow TikTok users jumped into the comment section to share their experiences with all the bizarre gifts they have received from their co-workers over the years during Secret Santa events. @olivias512 wrote, "Our Secret Santa was supposed to be $25-$50 and my boss got my name and she gave me a trinket, the ones people sell on the corner for $.25 for the blind, so I took her gift." @danajoitowns remarked, "We started using Elfster for our company secret Santa and you had to get something off of your person's wishlist for this very reason." @jxssexica quipped, "I stopped playing Secret Santa when I was in elementary and I remember my mom went out of her way and I got back a puzzle with missing pieces."

Editor's note: This article was originally published on December 29, 2023. It has since been updated.