*Book Blogger Hop* 22 December 2017

We are on to a new week for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by the lovely folks over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. This weeks questions is:

Have you ever asked co-workers to give you a book or B&N gift card if they got your name for a Secret Santa gift exchange? If so, did you get whet you asked for? (submitted by Maria @ A Night's Dream of Books)

I have never worked at a job where we did things like Secret Santa gift exchanges. Most of my work experience has been in food service in a college town (we're talking major state university) and what spare money the average college kid has goes towards partying or school books, and the other adults that are working food service just don't have a whole lot of spare money (I was in the latter group, although living with a roommate and then being married, I was comfortable enough that I could have swung a $20 Secret Santa gift if necessary.) I'm not sure I would have felt like it was appropriate to ask for gift card to a specific place though, and probably wouldn't have wanted to. I find gift cards to be a bit impersonal and try to avoid giving them because I feel like gifts should be something that makes the giver think of the recipient when they see it, and I spent enough hours talking with my coworkers every week that I feel like they'd surely be able to find something at the store that just screamed "Katie!" without them having to resort to a gift card. For example, the right pens would make a perfect gift for me that anybody I've ever worked with should be able to think about. I was very possessive of my pens, but would lend them to coworkers with threats of death if they were not returned (why I had coworkers that came to work without at least two pens in their pockets every day I don't know, but I always had at least five). They weren't super expensive pens, but they were also not cheap pens either...I think a variety pack with like seven pens would have cost around $8 and I would have loved the present. It would have been personal and fitting and within budget.

So no, I've never asked a coworker to give me a book or a gift card, and I likely never would.

What about you? Have you ever asked a coworker for a book or gift card as part of a Secret Santa gift exchange? - Katie

*If you're stopping by from the linkup, please be sure to leave a link to your post so I can see your answer too. It may take me a bit to return comments as my life is currently in major upheaval, but I will stop by when I have some time.*