The runup to X'mas

I really hate shopping for 'mandatory' X'mas presents. Every X'mas, my office goes through this obligatory drill - pick another colleague's name out of a hat, buy him a present up to a value of $15, and surprise him with it during the X'mas party.

What usually happens is:
1. More often than not, you pick a name of a person that you don't know very well and won't know what he really wants
2. You end up looking for a "generic" present like toiletries, towels or X'mas treats
3. The person that receives the gift thanks you and tries to look pleased (and chucks it into a corner of his cubicle/car once he gets the chance)

I think the only people that benefit from this "secret Santa" game are the retailers. Every year, I see ready wrapped "$10 presents", "$20 presents" and such popping up in the stores, no doubt targeted at busy, clueless or simply bochup people who just want to get a gift, ANY gift, for their colleagues and get it over with.

X'mas is really getting commercialized, methinks.

Bah, humbug.