Dirty Santa Trick

This post is about a psychological experiment in a social setting that only works around this time of year. It has to do with a game commonly called "Dirty Santa" although you may know it by another name. Don't worry there's nothing inappropriate about the game or my story about the game.

The game is played in a social or group setting; the more the merrier. The rules can vary depending on the group's choice but here's how it basically works. Each person brings a wrapped gift the cost if which is agreed upon by the group prior to the occasion. All the gifts are placed in a central location, usually under a tree if the gathering is at a home or on a table in a less intimate setting. Individual slips of paper consecutively numbered to equal to the number of participants are placed in a hat. Each participant picks a number.

Then starting with "1" each participant gets to choose which gift they want. The gift can be opened or stay wrapped depending on the rules agreed upon by the group. The person with the next number gets the choice of taking the gift from the first person or picking one out of the pile. The game then continues until all the gifts are chosen. This can take a while because people constantly take gifts from each other. There's a few more rules but that's the basis of the game.

Now this game really brings out the greediness in people. In the times I've played the game there have been people determined to get a specific item and will "steal" it as many times as they can and try to hold onto it for dear life.

This brings me to the experiment. I've had 2 occasions to try this experiment and it's paid off with a great finish and got a great reaction from the group.

Here's what you do. No matter the gift limit go to the store and buy a cheap picture album. You know the kind that you organize and display your family or vacation photos and force dinner guests to look at when they come over.

Then you go and buy a gift card of some kind (both times I did this I made it a Best Buy gift card) and doing the minimal amount of damage to the photo album's packaging place the gift card securely inside the back cover of the photo album; hidden from sight. No one will look at this gift and guess that it has more value than it seems.

Then you go to the party or gathering and watch the scene unfold as the cheapest item, or at least one of them, in the game, the photo album, gets passed around and "forced" on the the less than thrilled recipient.

Once the game is over get the crowds attention and tell them that you are the one who brought the photo album. No one is supposed to tell what they brought until the end of the game. Then you tell everyone that sometimes things are a lot more valuable than they look. You do your best "Monty Hall "Let's Make A Deal" impersonation as you reveal that the cheap gift's secret and show everyone that they could have had a valuable gift card. The person who seemingly "lost" the game actually ends up with a pretty good gift.

The reaction of the people that they've been the victim of a joke with an underlying message is wonderful. It really conveys to everyone one of the most important messages of the season. That sometimes the value of something or someone is not always in it's appearance or apparent quality.
The ultimate example of that is the life lived by Jesus Christ. And it all began with his humble and lowly birth on that very first Christmas night. So not only does the "Dirty Santa" trick an experiment in human psychology it's also a very good parable illustrating a spiritual truth taken directly from scripture.