International Gifting

Our boss is one of those guys who’s always trying to make a bet. Sports, card games, silly stuff, anything really--most of the time, we just ignore it.

Rick is a young boss, kinda cocky but for the most part, you can tell he’s got a good heart.

He’s also into online gambling. You can see when he’s supposed to be listening to presentations, he’s placing bets on his phone. But overall, a good boss.

Our company, WrapCity has been growing in popularity. We are kinda like the middle-man between vendors and customers, doing the wrapping and shipping from our location.

The cool thing about WrapCity is we even have the copyrights to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody as our marketing anthem. No, not a fan of Queen? That’s a shame.

Anyway, because of our exclusive contract with a global transportation and e-commerce company, no one can beat our prices for gift baskets.

We offer international gifting, and we also offer gifts that ship internationally.

We also started our new promo, international gift baskets that include goods and services from other countries. Services in an international gift basket you asked? Yeah, that would include massages, city tours or other fun excursions when you visit the respective country. Cool, huh?

Anyway, back to Rick.

He would hold random workplace raffles each month. He reasons that it’s a morale booster for the office even though WrapCity has been generous in its pay and benefits. He would give away his own household items as prizes so the raffle wasn’t that exciting or extraordinary.

Come to find out that he’s using it to pay off his gambling debts. We don’t know how much he was in the hole for but in the coming weeks, it was revealed to be pretty significant.

So when he announced an office raffle, we didn't think much of it.

Rick was making his rounds selling tickets at the office. He also pitched to the other companies in the same building and spent most of his time hustling that we didn’t see him until 4:30 p.m. that day. He definitely made like a bandit, already having sold more than 200 tickets that day.

In the meantime, I figured I could get online gift delivery in USA for Sasha. This would also make my job so much easier to get my girlfriend a birthday gift. Good thing she’s in the States. To send birthday gifts to USA is a lot easier than sending them to her in Russia. I had looked online for international gift delivery USA and that was still a cheaper option than sending it out of the country.

But with this raffle, I could just bypass the wait time and save a couple of bucks.

Anyone thinking of having a girlfriend should heed the warning that there’s a good chance you’ll be broke unless you know how to shop for deals.

Several people have already bought raffle tickets. Rick said there were gonna be awesome prizes and most were banking to win something of value.

We should have asked more questions before buying tickets. They weren't cheap. Yeah, $50 bucks a pop.

I bought two. I just got off of Rick’s claim that the prizes are one of a kind. I’m a Plan B kind of guy, so I still had my web browser up to look for international gift ideas and online surprise gift delivery options just in case.

Being with a beautiful, high-maintenance girl was a lot of work. I looked into international gift basket delivery when browsing a Spanish food basket company. I’ll just save this in my cart for now.

“Dex!” I turned around. It’s Rick and he’s back from another day of hustling from the building next door. He’s already sold another 200 tickets.

“What’s the big plan for Sasha’s birthday?” I had told him that she was impossible to please but I was hoping to bank on this raffle and win something amazing.

“Don’t worry, I got you covered,” Rick said, putting a reassuring arm on my shoulder. “She’ll love what you’ll win tomorrow. Trust me.”

Then we saw the prizes. They looked like the dregs of a bad garage sale...maybe they were.

A dated blue hexagon lampshade from the 1960s, a weight-lifting set on a triangular rack with a missing 25 lbs. dumbbell and a pub bar light with what was supposed to say Coors Light in between a bikini bra and panties neon signage but a couple of light fuses were out so it read: oo Light.

He also had a basket of used golf balls with the word PRACTICE labeled on them. A blowup futon with a questionable stain in the middle and a miscellaneous box of old video game consoles.

Oh no, I’m in trouble.

“Dex, can you look for international gifts online for me? It’ll give this raffle some legit prizes. Maybe look for an international gift store and check the gift basket overseas review if that’s something we should get too,” Rick said.

“Make sure it’s under WrapCity’s account,” he said, peering over my shoulder.

That would mean that he would get the wholesale price of these items. “Hey, I didn’t know this was WrapCity’s thing, is it?” I questioned.

“Yeah, it is. Don’t worry about it.” He walked away, glancing back. “Just do it - it’ll be fine. Thanks, man.”

I was gonna let it go but some people got pretty upset and started asking questions.

“Is that right, Dex? He’s using company resources for HIS raffle,” Tiff said.

“Yeah, where is the money going? It’s not counted as part of WrapCity’s revenue, right?” Annie asked.

I shook my head. I didn’t know what to think. As they left my desk, I looked into international birthday gift delivery and send gifts online same day delivery with another contracted vendor. They didn’t have anything promising so I typed in send gifts to usa amazon on the search field. Finally! A list of good ideas comes along.

My ears perked when I heard someone shouting near the reception area. It looked like Tiff and Annie were confronting Rick about something.

Tiff was gesturing wildly with her hands at Rick. Annie was also there with her hands on her hips.

I got up and walked towards them. The guilty look on Rick’s face didn't help. The tips of his ears turned red as the women kept peppering him with questions. He tried to interject Tiff’s tirade about WrapCity’s ethics but was constantly cut off as Tiff continued on.

It turns out his betting habit isn't just a funny quirk--he’s actually thousands of dollars in gambling debts to pay - $10,000 to be exact and this was his bright idea for a personal fundraiser.

“I promise. I’ll return the money. There’s no need to go to corporate,” he pleaded. He sees me in the corner of his eye.

“Dex! See if we can get a refund from Amazon Global Store, or Amazon International. Everything needs to be refunded. Go!” He commands, his eyes pleading.

Oh man, I’m dead meat. I ran to my desk and started working on getting all the necessary refunds. Once that’s done, I type furiously to see if I can still get something for Sasha. I can get gift cards that can be used internationally. I wish she wasn’t so picky. I get her a bouquet of carnations and she tells me she prefers roses.

One year, I got her charm bracelet but we traded that in for a rose gold and diamond tennis bracelet. She always returned my gifts and suggested maybe I should just take her shopping so that she can get what she wanted or just give her gift cards instead.

He returned all the money to anyone who purchased a raffle ticket. Tiff and Annie promised not to report him. We now take turns taking him to Gamblers Anonymous meetings every week.

As for Sasha, I was able to find the best international gift delivery that promised a singing telegram to accompany her gift. I hope she likes it.

I tell this to Rick when it’s my turn to take him to his weekly GA meeting. He listens sympathetically and suggests maybe I should do a raffle with all the presents I gave her at the beginning of our relationship since she doesn’t use them. I looked at him incredulously.

“Dude! Are you serious? That’s what got you in trouble in the first place.”

He laughs. “It’s just a joke, Dex,” he said. But it didn’t seem so that way. It did get me thinking. His raffle scheme didn’t work because he blatantly did it in front of everyone. Hmm…. If I was stealthy about it, it might work.

When I get back to the office, I go online searching international gift delivery Japan and online gift shop Belgium.

If I do it offsite away from everyone at WrapCity, no one will know…right?