I'll take a crown and coke with a splash of guilt

Tonight was the annual Courier newsroom Christmas Party. A pot-luck gathering of journalists where the conversation always turns to the big headlines of the past few weeks.

Included in the evening is a dirty Santa gift exchange, And each year I've been the one who brings the one gift that nobody wants to end up with. Two years ago it was bottled water, pop-tarts and film. Last year it was a crow bar and a traffic cone. I don't think I let anybody down this year with my package of diapers for cabbage patch kids and a book... "Barbra Bush, A Biography"

Yes, I'm "that" guy at the gift exchange.

One of the other gifts was a bottle Crown Royal. Of course, it was a hot item and was stolen multiple times. Started with Joel, stolen by Keith, Stolen by Mika then stolen by me. And that happened to be the end of the exchange. Jackpot! I walk in with a bag of fake diapers and Barbra Bush Book and leave with a bottle of Crown Royal.

I felt a little guilty about taking the bottle from Mika knowing how much she wanted it, but, like I said, "Don't hate the player, Hate the Game" Plus, she ended up with a gift card to Starbucks so it's not like she ended up with what Jeremy gave... stuffed animal and his 11th grade report card. (He got an A- in his Newspaper class)