It’s the Christmas season, but The Man just wouldn’t give you a break. While you were having your coffee break, the company executives decided that the most cost-efficient way to celebrate Christmas at the office would be to do away with the tradition of Secret Santa. Instead, everyone would have to bring “unisex” gifts for the company Christmas party. Whoever thought of “unisex Christmas parties” must be a real Grinch.

If you’ve been to a unisex corporate Christmas party before, you may have built an extensive collection of photo albums, picture frames, and coffee mugs. All the gender-neutral and politically-correct gifts you have received go all too well with corporate giveaways, and are all gathering dust somewhere in a corner of your home. You can only rant and rave about how Scrooge-like the company could be by putting all of you through the pains of receiving photo albums, picture frames, and coffee mugs for the company Christmas party. Even with that confusing thought, you can still have fun and celebrate the meaning of giving with these gift ideas for a unisex Christmas party.

1. Business Planners

• Cost: Under $50, depending on the brand and functionality of the planner
• Advantage: Keeps even the most stressful week in the office well-organized

To survive in the world of big business, an employee must have a professional, multi-functional planner. Instead of corporate freebies or promotional items from affiliates, you can buy a snappy-looking planner that has many functional and useful purposes. Many planners come with thin accounting calculators, short rulers, calling card holders, and even elegant-looking pens.

Maroon, brown, and black leather-covered planners are perfect for corporate employees of any gender. Remember to buy the best-looking one you can afford, and that it shouldn’t look like a corporate giveaway.

2. Inflatable Air Bed

• Cost: The cheapest can go up to less than $20
• Advantage: The most stressed persons in the office can now sleep at night

After a day at work, people like to relax and revitalize with some deep sleep. The problem is that most mattresses don’t give the body the support it needs during sleeping. People who don’t get a good amount of sleep get stressed easily, and start the day with a really cranky mood. Chances are, a lot of your office mates have this exact same problem.

Air beds are affordable, and come in many sizes; a single-size air bed can cost less than $20. More expensive models with remote controls do cost more, but a reasonable twenty-dollar air bed can help a lot to make your colleague have a good night’s sleep. Whoever receives your gift of an air bed is ready to be re-energized for another eight-hour grind at the office.

3. Badminton Set

• Cost: On average, around $30
• Advantage: A fun game to play on weekend offset hours

The bosses and the higher-ups may be able to afford expensive $200 rackets and shuttlecocks for a weekend at an exclusive badminton court, but that doesn’t mean that the workforce can’t enjoy the same thing. For the price of a hand-held vacuum cleaner, you can buy a badminton set complete with shuttlecocks.

While a $30 badminton set is not as good as the CEO’s own badminton set, you have the perfect way to pass the time during those weekends where you have to report for work. You can then turn part of the parking lot into a small, informal badminton court where you and your kringle can polish your badminton skills. (Learn how to play badminton)

4. USB Stuff

• Cost: Varies, but most sell for under $30
• Advantage: Cubicle work becomes way more exciting than it should be

You may have heard of eccentric USB gadgets like spaghetti cookers and pole dancers, but the neat thing about many fun gadgets plugged into a computer’s USB port is that they cost less than thirty bucks. You can buy all sorts of fun and useful USB gadgets from computer supply stores or from auction sites on the Internet.

USB gadgets can be useful, like a multi-card reader, a thumb drive, or a flash disk. Flash storage come in handy just in case critical data need to be transferred between computers when network servers are down. Yet USB gadgets can also be wacky; you can choose from eye massagers, mini disco balls, aquariums, and even Stewie Griffin from Family Guy acting as your own personal “office assistant.”

5. Boxing Gloves

• Cost: $30 for training gloves
• Advantage: It’s about time someone did something about pent-up rage

You won’t get pumped up in fighting form by moving a mouse around, and there’s only so much rage a stress ball can get rid of. Almost everyone in your office has a lot of frustration from work, and one way to release that anger is to participate in boxing. For thirty dollars, you can give your kringle the gift of anger with a pair of training gloves. You can also add a gift certificate for boxing lessons at a local gym to go along with the gloves.

If your kringle just so happens to not like boxing or physical activity, there are lots of other things he or she can do with the gloves. Boxing gloves can be used as wall decorations, or as a neat way to store pens, notes, and other knick-knacks in. Just in case your colleague is in the mood to release the rage, he or she will always have those gloves handy.

6. Kick Scooter

• Cost: Just under $50
• Advantage: It’s the next best thing for office mobility since the Segway PT

A Segway Personal Transporter can set you back at least $5,000. For many office employees who dream of literally wheeling and dealing around the office, the Segway PT is on the really steep side. Motorized short-distance transport may seem far-fetched, office wheels are well within reach. For just 1% of the price of a Segway, a kick scooter gives you an easy and cool way to get around wide office floors.

Chances are that companies won’t allow these funky and fun ways to ruin office carpets, but kick scooters are a great way to move between buildings at business districts. Cheaper kick scooters get easily wrecked and cannot hold the weight of a grown adult, so you need to buy ones made from aircraft-grade aluminum tubing or stainless steel.

Unisex Christmas parties may just be yet another annoyance made by the corporate world to further stress its workers, but that doesn’t mean you can’t play around with options that don’t involve porcelain or photography. With these ideas to help you buy the perfect unisex gift, you’ll never have to worry about offending other people again with the next coffee mug or picture frame you’re giving away. If you enjoy learning this article, might as well read Office Christmas Party Ideas.