With Thanksgiving in the books and Christmas less than a month away, everyone's turning their attention to an inescapable obligation of the holidays: buying Christmas cards. While few enjoy this task, it is simply assumed that you will both recieve greeting cards from others and buy your own for them. Especially if you work at a large organization or in a big, friendly office; there's just no way around it. However, this doesn't mean you need to buy Christmas cards for everyone. Here's the scoop:

You should buy Christmas cards for...

Your boss!

That's right - call it brown-nosing, or call it sucking up, but it's just plain courteous to buy your boss a Christmas card. When you work side-by-side with someone all year, day in and day out, how could you not? Plus, let's not forget - he or she is probably the one signing your paychecks, so it never hurts to show some appreciation during the Holiday months. A sincerely worded Christmas card can go a long way toward demonstrating your loyalty toward the organization and good will toward him/her.

Your cubicle mate/closest co-worker!

Everybody has a cubicle mate or close co-worker without whom the day would be a total, insufferable drag. The least you can do is give that person a heartfelt and sincere Christmas card during the frosty holiday season. After all, they probably hate coming in to work as much as you do, and the fact that you gave them the card will brighten their day all the more.

The office flirt (see below)

This one depends on your marital status and intentions. As you well know, every office or workplace has an "office flirt" - ie, a woman who seems hell-bent on making passes at every man working there at some point or another. Now, when it comes to giving this person a Christmas card, you have a decision to make. Giving her a card will be seen as you "flirting back" with her, which could in turn drive her to flirt harder with you. If this is what you want, go ahead and get her a card!

You should not buy Christmas cards for...

The office gossip hound

Another common fixture at workplaces everywhere is the gossip hound. The person who seems more concerned with spreading and inventing gossip than with eating or breathing. Unless you happen to be close friends with the gossip hound (like if he or she is your cubicle mate), you probably shouldn't give her a Christmas card. Doing so implies that you are okay with her gossiping ways when in all actuality you probably aren't. Not giving her a card, on the other hand, is a small but much-needed reminder that her pettiness is unappreciated.

That pesky middle manager who's always on your case

Everybody's got a pesky, buzzword-spouting, haughty middle manager whose job description seems to be lecturing you about how the company is "moving forward." Few office personalities are more grating and irritating than this guy, and as such, rewarding them with a sincere Christmas card is simply unadvisable. Even if everyone else gives this person a card, you should resist, for it is only once people stop treating Christmas cards as mindless 'gotta give 'em to everybody regardless of liking them or not" traditions that their true dignity will be restored. Take a stand!

The office flirt (see below again)

Earlier we advised that you should give the office flirt a Christmas card if you're interested in her. But what if you're not - say, because you're already married? In this case, giving the office flirt a card is a recipe for disaster in the form of horassing text-messages, voicemails, or potentially even ugly in-public encounters with her while you are out with your significant other. Unless these are your ideas of fun and laughs, it's probably best to cross the office flirt off your Christmas card list.