By skyforbes Yesterday my work group did a White Elephant gift exchange. I didn’t actually need anything, but I still wanted to participate and be part of the group.
I was the only one who had to fly in, so I bought a gift at the airport. The exchange itself was fun, but everything I even considered “stealing” during the game wasn’t travel-appropriate or something I wanted to bring home.
In the end, I just stole my own gift back.
When I got back to the airport less than 24 hours later, it hit me: I could just return it. And I did — full refund.
Best outcome possible:
• I was social
• I participated
• I didn’t actually buy anything in the end
• I didn’t add clutter to my home
• I didn’t have to travel with something I didn’t want
It felt like a small but satisfying rejection of unnecessary consumption. Honestly, this might be my strategy going forward for these kinds of situations.