Illicit schwag

The university has a rule about not accepting gifts; the maximum dollar value for a gift that I can accept is $3. I'm not sure what this would be, exactly, this <$3 gift. A cup of coffee, maybe? A box of paperclips?

I recently came into posession of not one, but TWO, stylish ball caps sporting the logo of a company with close ties to my research. One ended up in my car at the end of a long collaborative workday, the other appeared in my office one day that a honcho of said company was visiting the department (he was like a corporate Santa, in a way, out in the hallway with his booming voice and hardy laugh . . . it left me with the impression that had I left my shoes outside my door he might have also filled them with candy).

Don't rat me out, 'kay? If anybody asks, a ballcap goes for about $2.98.