Middle Class Problems: I don't like secret Santa but I don't want to be the office Scrooge

What if you're drawn to buy for someone you hate? And what can you get for £5?

As if office life weren't hard enough in the lead-up to Christmas. First, there's the work itself. Want a few days off during the festive season? Better squeeze everything in between now and then, in that case. Then there's the annual trial of the office party and all the clichéd shenanigans that people refer to and laugh about but which no one has ever really seen happen. As for trawling the shops to find your loved ones the best possible gifts? You can't. You're at work.

And then, on top of all that, there's secret bleeding Santa. First problem: depending on the size of your office, there's a good chance you don't know the person you're buying for. What if you end up buying chocolates for someone who's lactose intolerant? It'll come over not only as cruel but as mocking, giving you a one-way ticket to Shunned City.

Worse, what if you're drawn to buy for someone you hate? Should you go out of your way to get them something nice to prolong the pretence that you're not really avoiding them every day?

Then there's the chance that whatever you buy is less creatively impressive than everyone else's efforts and you seem like a dullard.

And of course there's the budget. £5? What can you get for £5? No, no, we didn't mean it should be raised… Great, now we have to fork out £10 on someone we don't like/know.

Which leads us, finally, into the worst possibility: that it'll seem like you're not getting into the spirit. And no one wants to be known as the office Scrooge.