Ok so I was invited to a Christmas party last night with a group of good friends. Just the usual casual affair with a BBQ, a few drinks, a terrible Mariah Carey Christmas remix and a bloody Kris Kringle! Now don’t get me wrong I’m not the Grinch and I’m all for gifts at xmas. In fact I actually prefer giving a present than receiving one! To be honest I find that moment where you’ve unwrapped the paper and discovered what’s inside really really awkward.
You’re probably wondering why. Well it doesn’t seem to matter whether I like the present or not I always feel like I’m not doing the moment justice. I feel like I should be giving more than just the regulation “oh thanks it’s great I love it!” but I’m not the type of person to tear up or throw out hugs willy-nilly so I’m not so sure as to my alternatives. Even when I do legitimately love the gift I still worry that the ‘giver’ thinks I’m faking it and on those rare occasions where I receive something I don’t really care for like a mug (sorry mum for all those mugs, I’ve learnt now!) everyone involved wishes we’d just left that one under the tree.
But back to my beef with the Kris Kringle. I’m not sure if everyone else’s experiences are the same but for some reason the most common nominal amount is still the $10 gift limit which I feel in this day and age is hugely inadequate. It doesn’t take into account the ever-increasing cost of living in our society due to inflation. If we’re going to make everyone’s Christmas parties easier we need to peg the gift limit to the CPI (consumer price index,) and as a result picking out a Kris Kringle will be much easier. Now I’ve run some numbers to put this all into context. Seeing as though I was born in 1986 I'm going to say that’s when Christmas started. So if we take the $10 limit from 1986 and add in an annual inflation rate of 3.5% we end up with a new Kris Kringle gift limit of about $22.
Now think of all the things you could buy with a $22 limit. No longer will you be stuck with $10 worth of chocolate or lollies, instead you could buy a decent wine, movie tickets, a good book or even a deposit on a house in Adelaide (just kidding, I love Sth Australians and their English accents!). But seriously even if you feel that $22 is a bit steep to shell out at work for some colleague you don’t even like think of the potential gifts you could receive. I mean at least you won’t get what I scored at last nights Christmas party…. Peter Andre’s autobiography. Now that was definitely less than the $10 limit!! Although at least there are pictures of Jordan inside ;-)
I hope that wasn't a number one bestseller in Australia!
