Entitled coworker participates in Office Secret Santa to receive his gift but refuses to purchase anything: 'He thought it was childish to participate, yet didn't ask for his name to be removed from the hat'

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Dec 11, 2025 2:00 PM EST

The whole purpose of a gift exchange is that everyone involved gets to give and take, but this coworker refused to accept that basic principle.

Talk about an easy way to ruin an entire work team's office Secret Santa experience! It sounds like this entitled coworker, whom the author refers to as the office Grinch, was always a bit of a problem when it came to group dynamics. This was likely the type of individual who was a tough collaborator on group projects, so naturally, when it came to extracurricular activities like Secret Santa, he was all the more disagreeable.

The most amusing part of the whole tale is that the entire activity was voluntary. No one was compelled to participate in this Secret Santa gift exchange, which quite frankly, endears me to this team. If folks want to join in on the fun, they can. If they feel it's too burdensome or childish, they don't have to. Everyone wins!

Still, this man somehow managed to find a way to create disaster, as he does everywhere he goes. Unfortunately, it meant that one employee didn't end up receiving a gift.

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  • We feel for the employee who ended up drawing names from a hat and receiving the name of the office curmudgeon. The fact that this Grinch ended up actually shirking his own responsibilities and refusing to purchase a gift of his own says everything anyone needs to know about his lack of maturity and decency. When he was reprimanded for his unkind behavior, his method of attempting to “make it up” to the employee was almost just as egregious.

  • "Secret Santa and Grinch Coworker"

    This happened about a decade ago. Worked with a small group of people (9 total, including boss) at a delivery type company where we would only be in the office and the beginning and end of the day, 2 people per route. So the bossman decides we're going to do Secret Santa that year.
    via LordEonGil
  • Everyone picks a name out of the hat. One guy was always grouchy about everything all the time. You know the kind, b d constantly, thought he was better than everyone else, yadda, yadda....
    via LordEonGil
  • Anyway, Friday afternoon comes around and everyone is in the office at the end of the shift. Presents are distributed and everyone gets something except me. Turns out Mr B y got my name and didn't get me anything.
    via LordEonGil
  • He thought it was childish to participate, yet didn't ask for his name to be removed from the hat and was all too happy to accept the present he was given.
    via LordEonGil
  • The boss noticed I didn't get anything, so he pulled that guy to the side to say something. I had not said a single thing about not getting anything, but he must have assumed that I had, as a few
    via LordEonGil
  • minutes later he came over and threw a little box of chocolates at me, mumbling "Whiney bitch" at me as he did. It was a $.99 box of chocolate that he didn't even pay for, it was given to him by one of the stops on our route.
    via LordEonGil
  • Fortunately I was gone from that place before Mr. By got promoted to boss.
    via LordEonGil
  • A woman receives a holiday gift from a man.
    via Vitaly Gariev

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • NoNeedForNorms I would have told Grinchy he had to give his gift back. To be fair.
    via LordEonGil
  • OP LordEonGil Anything I said would have led to a fight and it wasnt worth it
    via LordEonGil
  • the_greek_italian Him being promoted to boss is just the icing on the cake. Why participate if you're not going to put in your share? I could just imagine him and his grouchy attitude trying to the run the place.
    via LordEonGil
  • OP LordEonGil He just had a holier-than-thou attitude and always acted like everything he did was doing you a favor just by having him help/participate. I don't know how long it took exactly, but at some point after he was promoted, every single person that was there during my time was gone.
    via LordEonGil
  • blapper40water I'd have pushed it right into trash and kept working.
    via LordEonGil

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Tags

terrible coworkers christmas employment issues gifts Secret Santa entitled people toxic-work-environment
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