Sometimes some outside companies come to my company to discuss whatever they discuss, and they have huge meetings with lots of swag. As someone who works close to the team that handles these, there is often plenty of leftover swag from the meetings, such as merchandise (t-shirts, water bottles, keychains, lanyards, etc), food, drinks, etc.

The other day I brought a few t-shirts and water bottles back to my family, since it had been nearly 1 week since the meeting with the company was held, but my wife told me it'd be a bad idea to take them, since they would look bad on my part. I had asked my managers before whether or not it was okay to take one (as they handled the meeting) and they said it would be fine.

So I'm not too sure on this. Is it acceptable to take free swag from the office? Is it better to be modest and not take anything?

Sometimes some outside companies come to my company to discuss whatever they discuss, and they have huge meetings with lots of swag. As someone who works close to the team that handles these, there is often plenty of leftover swag from the meetings, such as merchandise (t-shirts, water bottles, keychains, lanyards, etc), food, drinks, etc.

The other day I brought a few t-shirts and water bottles back to my family, since it had been nearly 1 week since the meeting with the company was held, but my wife told me it'd be a bad idea to take them, since it would look bad on my part. I had asked my managers before whether or not it was okay to take one (as they handled the meeting) and they said it would be fine.

So I'm not too sure on this. Is it acceptable to take free swag from the office? Is it better to be modest and not take anything?