The Thing About Expectations

Hello people of the internet. I have not published any writings in more than 2 years! Work has been really time consuming.
So just yesterday I was at Pej’s place for a post Christmas party and there was also a Secret Santa thing going on. This was my first Secret Santa thing and I was excited and didn’t know what to expect.
There was this website to organize Secret Santa things. You’ll list all the participants email in and the website will randomly assign people to each other. I think this was pretty cool, and you could even add in your wish list!
Naturally I was pretty excited to list my wish list and also shop for my Santee. At that point in time I had nothing I needed or wanted so I just wrote whatever that popped into my mind during that period.
I watched a cooking YouTube video and the chef had a baby whisk, so I listed baby whisk. I recently downloaded the Starbucks app so I thought, Starbucks gift card! And then I was chopping garlic one day and remembered that I’ve always wanted a garlic press cause it is sooo tiring to mince garlic. And on Facebook one day I saw a video of this spiral hanger – best for bedsheets and curtains. And I was like what a great space saving invention! Yea so those were my thoughts when I listed my wish list. Haha. I think I also listed a Muji neck pillow?
My Santee had 4 items on her list. I got 2 things out of her list. The first item was really specific to the brand and color. And I thought this must be something she really wants and has researched on. I think we had like over a week to shop. But the brand that she wanted I couldn’t find it at the shops I went to. I had to either go to a specific shop / purchase it online. I didn’t think I had the time so I went for the item that she wanted but an alternative brand – which was a pretty reputable one as well. Also tried my best to look for the closest colours she specifically mentioned. Haha.
Since all the items were kinda small so I got another item on her list too, to kinda make it look bigger. And Kim being Kim puts in a lot of effort to wrap it in many layers. Haha
Alright so that’s a rough background of thought processes and wish lists explanations. So I was late the last person to arrive the party. We had food and drinks outside the house and later went in for the gift exchange.
Here comes my point on expectations. My Santee was expecting Brand A but got Brand B instead. So she’s like oh this isn’t exactly what I wanted. And she had to go thru a really long opening process too. Haha so I felt a little bit disappointed la that I didn’t meet her expectations.
Moving on to myself, I kinda knew that I got a whisk from the wrapper. For a split second I was like eh, haha I forgot that apart from the size, there were also different types of whisk which I did not specify, I got a spiral whisk but I was expecting the standard vertical shaped ones. So it was out of my expectations and I was like oh this is what I asked for but not the shape I had in mind. I feel like I might have sounded unappreciative, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to 😦 I also got a Starbucks gift card which I wanted 🙂
I guess when you have a certain expectation in mind, then when it does not meet your expectation you don’t know how to react? But after having more time to process, I actually really like my gifts. And I really appreciate the effort and thoughtfulness. Is it weird that whenever I use it I’ll be like oh I got this from so and so. Haha.
So adding on to expectations, I’ve learnt again that having no expectations is the best. There was this guy where his wish list was “anything”, I think he was genuinely the most happy one when he opened his gift.
That said, I definitely know how to handle my next (if any) Secret Santa thing better. Note to self:
1. Have zero expectations
2. Gift cards are pretty foolproof
3. If your Santee mentions a certain brand or color or item, get exactly that / try not to go for alternatives.
4. But really, just have no expectations.
Maybe I’m just overthinking this.