Remember when holiday bonuses were actual money, not a $25 gift card to a restaurant you’d never choose yourself?
Our parents got checks that covered January’s mortgage. We get branded swag and suddenly everyone’s excited about free pizza like we’re in college again.
Look, if you’re getting a real bonus this year, congratulations! Now resist the urge to immediately spend it on everything you’ve been denying yourself since March.
That bonus isn’t permission to finally buy the ridiculous thing you’ve had in your Amazon cart for six months. Future You will appreciate Present You’s restraint.
And if your “bonus” is another coffee mug with the company logo? At least you can regift it. We invented regifting for a reason.
We’ve lived through enough bonus seasons to know they’re wildly unpredictable, so our expectations are appropriately calibrated to “let’s see what happens.”
