secret santa + scooters
ELF-IN-RESIDENCE, NORTH BEACH —
for at least the past decade, i’ve spent every holiday season looking forward to one event, and one event only: secret santa. before the grinches in the room stand up, i get that secret santa is cheesy, and is not procrastinator-inclusive, and heck, is even anxiety-inducing when you get someone you don’t know like the back of your hand.
but, to them i will clutch my christmas light necklace in rebellion and remind them that this is not about a $25 dollar cap and an excuse to have a cheeseboard. it’s about glittery walnuts, dammit.
more later, including what the heck i’m talking about, but first my words + reads:
my words w/ mary ann: we wrote about how two bits of scooter news reminded all of us that consolidation in the once overly-saturated market is happening.
etc: unicorn, a scooter startup founded by the co-creator of tile, ended operations and did not refund its customers. the company cited fb advertising and marketing expenses as its downfall, which made me think about a story i did a while back about a more traditional alternative to that route.
learning lessons: it’s a healthy reminder that while we all enjoyed the scooter puns and any alliteration opportunities, the market was overshot quite a bit. #tbt to my piece in the chronicle about the creative lengths sf-specific scooter companies went to when they were vying for operational permits.
unorganized tab time:
as a quick plot twist, this startup is not becoming a bank
how the loss of the landline is changing family life
anyways,
let’s get back to how glittery walnuts fit into this story.
through out college, i was the elf-in-residence trying to rally everyone together for a secret santa celebration. with love, it was a lot of ear pulling, and often times i found trader joes’ aisles a more festive alternative. but every year, we all ended up somehow ending up in the same room and exchanged janky presents over mulled wine. during the last college-based secret santa, i was presented with a jar of walnuts glued shut. with glitter.
confused, i broke the nuts open one by one, and they included one-liner memories from each of my college friends and, to my tearful surprise, my home friends C + A. at this point, i’d just gotten an offer from crunchbase news and was pretty much set on moving to san francisco. the nuts were for me to crack open while i made my new home, home. to date, it’s one of the most thoughtful gifts i’ve ever received (thanks scarlett!)
fast forward almost one year, and this past weekend i celebrated secret santa with friends right here in san francisco. it looked a little different from previous years, beyond just the composition of hearts. we rented out a little lounge space in a bar and traded presents over mimosas, plantains, cheddar grits, and hangovers from the night before.
i got accessories for my cheese and wine setups, and it was kind of beautiful to pause and realize how much we’ve all learned about each other in less than a year. i know everyone enough to, well, squeal of excitement when one of us got a versatile mug perfect for their sunday routine, and the other got a cookbook from their favorite cook. we closed out the bar.
so i think this is just my too wordy way of saying that traditions, as easy as they are to roll your eyes at, have a place for a reason. they have this built-in ability to shift and mold to your new reality. and they give you a standing date with thankfulness.
from the secret santa front, whether you’re a grinch, or an elf-in-residence, i hope you consider sneaking your always-there care onto someone’s radar with a small token. it is one of those traditions (cough, excuses) to show the people we love that we are thinking about them.
to glittery walnuts and cheesy traditions,
n
i highly recommend district for your secret santa needs
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash