(tl;dr at the bottom)

Where to start?! Well, my initial Secret Santa experience wasn't great. This was my first year doing the SS and I left it very late to buy my match a present. I did it a day or 2 before the deadline, and I felt kinda bad. However, I noticed my match hadn't pulled my shipping info since the 10th December and that was a bit of a gutting feeling. I know Christmas is about giving not receiving but there was that feeling that I knew someone somewhere in the world hadn't kept up their side of the bargain. (They have since pulled the shipping info but I'm not holding my breath!)

Anyway, when it came time for rematching I thought about it for a bit, contemplated whether or not to give this person a chance, but I just decided I should go ahead and get rematched.

A few hours later I got a message asking me what my loves in life were, and a few things they'd noticed from my posting history. Mainly, I played a lot of Battlefield 4 on the 360 (shoutout to /r/Battlefield_4_Xbox360!) and they remarked they were also a gamer. I was then told that 2 gifts were on the way, and I should receive them Monday 5th January (today!)

Saturday afternoon I got an unexpected package in the post. I rattled it and it sounded like a game or DVD, and I thought "Oh cool they've got me a game for my xbox. Pretty decent" and I opened it up and I saw it was a copy of Battlefield 4. "What? Why's he got me the only game he knows I already have a copy of? Is there something else hidden in the box?" That's when I noticed across the top of the case was written "Xbox One"

No. Friggin. Way.

At this point, all sorts of things were going through my mind. I was trying not to get too excited, thinking "Maybe he just got me a couple of games for when I upgrade. That's really cool, these games are pretty pricey. Or maybe he got confused and thought I WANTED BF4 for the Xbox and he's got it for the wrong platform"

Sunday I tried to occupy myself by playing guitar, drinking beer and watching football. Still, in the back of my mind I was thinking things over. I thought "Man, this guy posts on reddit and he even calls himself a gamer. There's no way he could have gotten this by mistake."

So this morning I got a message with an estimated delivery time and the real identity of my SS should I want to send them a thank-you message (I am doing that as SOON as I've posted this!) and I panicked. The delivery was due between 12:09 and 13:09. I leave for work at 12:45. I couldn't go another day without knowing what this 2nd package was. Honest to god, I was contemplating just calling in sick and waiting by the door all day instead!

Fortunately for me, I heard the delivery driver coming down my path with a big box in his hand while I was getting ready to leave.

Its safe to say, redditors, at this point I'd reached maximum pant soilage.

So I rushed down the stairs, left an unintelligible squiggle on the screen of the delivery driver's DCU and slammed the door in his face.

Sure enough, my rematched Secret Santa had bought me a brand new Xbox One and a copy of Battlefield 4

Then, I went to work.

It's been a long day, Reddit. But finally I am home, setting up my lovely new Xbone and I'm still utterly flabbergasted at the kindness of one random stranger.

Thank you again, kind Redditor! I've already started passing on the Karma. I bought a gig ticket for a work colleague who can't afford to really have much of a social life, and I'm paying for his train fare and beer too (he doesn't know that bit yet). I plan to do more many things like this over the course of 2015. It's just a shame there's isn't an option for me to rate this gift at 11.

tl;dr SS rematch got me an xbox one and bf4 and I squealed like a little girl