Mandatory Gift Giving

This morning our company VP walked in and asked if we would like to chip in some money to get a Christmas gift certificate for our secretary. Frankly I didn't see why we needed to single out the secretary for a gift. She has the easiest job of anyone in the office. She is already receiving a year end bonus and she just asked for and received a $3500 no interest lone from the company. Of course I'm relatively new so I didn't mention my misgivings. I'm thinking to myself, "$5-$10 - it isn't that big a deal." Then one of my office mates pulls out a $20 and suddenly that is the standard amount to give. So this secretary, who puts in less than 8 hours/day, is receiving a holiday bonus and a no interest lone is getting another $100 thrown in on top of everything.

Here is an update on the golf club situation. My brother-in-law bid again on the correct club and won it so now he has two clubs. He wants to sell the first club on ebay (at a big loss I would expect). The second club he paid way too much for. The end result is my wife is chipping in to help pay for the club I will be receiving. She won't tell me how much but I'd guess $30-$40. I feel guilty about the whole thing even though I specifically told her to tell him not to bid on the 2nd club. I'm beginning to understand the stress that everyone talks about during the holiday season.