Okay, I griped enough about the family choosing to do that "White Elephant" Christmas gift game on Christmas Day that I'm sure that Heaven's Angels above heard me. Well, wait till you hear what happened!
We all met at Blaine's sister's house for Christmas dinner and ate and made merry. And then it came time for "the game". The rules of the game were this: You picked a number out of a hat and that was your turn to pick a gift from the pile of anonymous gifts.
(Now note: the gifts that Blaine and I had contributed were a reversible fleece throw from Macy's and an air popcorn machine.)
Then, when it came time for you to pick a gift, you could choose to pick a gift from the pile or you could instead "steal" somebody else's gift.
So we began the game. (I was number 6). When it came my turn to pick a a gift it turned out to be an air popcorn maker with cute popcorn cups that are like the popcorn cups you get at the movies---and Blaine's sister-in-law admitted it was the gift she had contributed. Ahah, I thought---there are 2 popcorn makers in the lot!
Up to now, nobody had stolen anybody's gift. Most of us adults were just too polite to do it..... until it came Blaine's sister's turn. Blaine's sister is notoriously self-centered and greedy. And she had the unmitigated gall to choose NOT to pick a gift and steal my popcorn maker instead!
And she failed to notice the slight Mona Lisa smile on my face as she grabbed my popcorn maker box. Because there are 5 people in her family and 4 of them still hadn't picked.
The game went on. And since Blaine's sister had stolen my gift, I had to pick another gift from the pile, which turned out to be a totally cool indoor nerf ball basketball game---with an iTunes card taped to it! Yay! I was so thrilled! I couldn't have cared less about the nerf ball doohicky--but I was thrilled over the iTunes card. I have been wanting new music for my iPod forever!
The game went on. The gifts were good and, like I said before, people were just too polite to steal each others' gifts. And then it came down to the last three people's turns---which, per the luck of the draw, turned out to be two of Blaine's sister's three children and Blaine's brother. And it was very difficult to keep my Mona Lisa smile from evolving into an out and out grin. Finally it was the last person's turn, Blaine's 16-year-old niece. She had the choice of either stealing a gift from somebody or else choosing the last gift on the pile.
She hemmed and hawed for a few minutes. She kept muttering to her mother that she actually wanted my gift--the nerf ball game and the iTunes card---and Blaine's sister actually urged her to steal it! She actually told her daughter to steal my gift YET AGAIN. But the girl seemed too self-conscious to steal my gift. And I held my breath while this was going on because I knew what the last gift on the pile was---Blaine's popcorn maker. Finally, her 16-year old curiosity won out and she chose the last gift on the pile......and opened it.....
And was she ever surprised to see that it was a duplicate of the gift her mother had stolen from me---an air popcorn maker! HEH! HEH! HEH!
I swear, I laughed so hard my sides split. Because now Blaine's sister's family had TWO of the exact same air popcorn makers, HEE HEE HEE!!!!! I consider it POETIC JUSTICE, since Blaine's sister had been the one and only person to steal somebody's gift and she had urged her daughter to steal my 2nd gift!!
Karma, you know?
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16 comments:
yeah, we know Karma, the question is do you? talk about poetic justice. heh heh heh
Anonymous, I have no idea what you mean. Are you threatening me or some such?
Karma, gotta love it! Enjoy the moment!
Jenn
Thank you, Jenn!
I love this Christmas story! Poetic justice indeed!
Thank you, Deb!
Aren't you glad you just sat there and smiled your sweet lil Mona Lisa smile? You didn't say or do anything the least bit wrong, and still Karma happened! Good job, Bo.
Thank you, Linda!
I love this, I wonder how SIL felt when she got home with 2 popcorn poppers, heheheheh
Georgi--I must admit that I had to hide the degree of my amusement!!
I think the point of that game IS to "steal" the gifts. It's not about what you get to take home, it's about being silly and everyone getting raucous and disorderly. We played that one at our staff party this year and it was hilarious! Everyone was giggling and grousing at each other.
Of course, we had decided in advance that the gifts could cost no more than 10 dollars or must be handmade. (mine of course was a handknit -a neckwarmer/small cowl of a beautiful cerulean angora/wool blend) I ended up with some home canning that will go to good use.
Perhaps the small price of the gifts made them easier to let go when "stolen".
Lora
Lora, I think you are totally correct. I had played that game at a place I worked one time and the "stealings" were laughed about and it was fun.
But it just didn't turn out right being played in a family setting. (Our family setting.) The price was $25 a gift. But nobody but Blaine's sister "stole" a gift. Everybody was too self-concious to do it. I guess I got peeved because Blaine's sister is so notoriously self-centered with no sense of sympathy for anybody else. The whole game just didn't feel fun. I think the game would do much better like yours---the cost of gifts lower, handmade gifts, etc---and in an office setting. I just didn't think that it went well in a family setting.
(And I didn't want a dang popcorn maker anyway, heh!)
Too funny!
Cindy---it did strike me as sort of hilarious!
You're family is very entertaining!
Thank you, Deb! Never a dull moment in our house!
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