White Elephants

Christmas Fun

Every year at our staff Christmas party we have a white elephant gift exchange. These gifts are to be inexpensive or something you find lying around the house. Fun, humorous, useful or just plain interesting it is a game I enjoy. The way our group plays it is different than most versions. Usually when I have played it has been the stealing game where the gift can be only stolen up to 3 times and you get to steal when your number is called and the gift may be wrapped or unwrapped.

This is how you play the CISP way: Each person gets a number for order of gift selection. After gifts are selected they are all opened and you are given the opportunity to share why your treasure is the best gift in the room. This usually can end in quite funny descriptions of the mundane objects, like a coffee mug and all it's various uses beyond just putting a beverage in it. After you have boasted the greatness of your gift the game begins. Three plates with dice are to circle the room during a 10 minute time limit. In order to steal a gift you must roll doubles! A gift can be stolen unlimited number of times during the time period. When stealing the stolen gift is exchanged for what the thief is holding. It is quite exciting to watch the gifts bounce around the room and can be quite strategic to end up with the gift you want.

Often I select something that is nice, and functional but not too nice that people would want to steal it. However last year I strayed from my normal game plan and I sought after a beautiful scarf. In those last seconds before the game was over I thought I had won my prize. Alas it was all for nought and doubles were rolled and my treasure was snatched from my hands and I was left with this:

Needless to say I was a tad disappointed, but it was a game and in a way I had felt that I had lost. However I learned a lot from this little tree and decided that I would share my lesson this year with a little game of my own. With the help of my artistic roommate we fashioned a beautiful gift that would be the envy of many. A sketch of Charles Bridge that would surly have been fought over. However, to save the treasure from being bounced from one hand to the next and saving those who wished they had won it the agony of its loss; we placed the tree in it's stead with a secret to be told only once the game had finished.

The tree's first recipient boasted of the tree's beauty and how it could be a symbol used in any Bible class about the tree of good and evil. It was a great sales pitch, though there were much nicer things to be had. So the tree bounced around the room, often not as a gift to be desired but as one to be gotten rid of. I spent more time in the game watching the tree move from hand to hand than worrying about what I would end up with.

When the game was over the tree ended up where it had started and then the fun of revealing the twist behind this gift began. I handed the recipient a poem about the tale of the tree and about how it was more than what it seemed.

The Tale of the Beaded Tree

Dear Holder of the beaded tree

Do not despair or be in misery

For there is a story to behold

Of the tiny tree red, green and gold.

It came upon a winter past

That this tree fell into my hands in those moments last

Disappointment filled me!

For what worth was there in a beaded tree?

Indeed it was a result of my own greed

I chased around a gift I thought to be lovely

Not taking any heed

Of the consequences there would be

So I returned home with the little gift: red green and gold.

It sat on the shelf all year long saving a story to be told.

Each time I would pass the little tree it reminded me of the need

To not succumb to the temptation of greed

But rather to appreciate the little things

Found in all that this life brings

Although I did not want you to be deceived

There is more to this gift than first believed!

This tree is more than beads, rock and wire

It offers a lesson that we often may require

For us to take notice and see

The good that can be found in what may disappoint thee

But to give a gift that brings good cheer

That is my goal every year

A treasure is hidden along with this tree

So when it was discovered it would fill you with glee.

So if you truly do desire

To be rid of this gift of lowly attire

You may only trade it for something new.

Awaiting behind door # 2

The fun was seeing if they would give up the tree to see what would be behind door number two. There was slight worry that they wouldn't want to be greedy and keep the tree. I had actually grown a little attached to the tree and was banking on its return. I was not disappointed and there was an exchange of the lowly tree for the artwork that was indeed oohed and awed over. 

In the end this year I came home with the beaded tree in one hand and to add a touch of irony a lovely scarf in the other.