You shouldn't have

Mark Morosse

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Yale administrators are a globetrotting group, and wherever they go on official business, an exchange of gifts is almost always de rigueur. The gong at top center, for instance, was given to Yale's president in Chennai, India. Much of the haul is now housed in an informal museum at the Office of International Affairs. "Most of it commemorates a partnership we've undertaken with another university," explains OIA director Donald Filer. "These are tokens of friendship."

In the protocol pas de deux, Yale officials typically know beforehand what they're going to receive, so they can respond with something appropriate (Yale books or engraved pewter bowls, say). No one, so far, has offered a blender.