There's so much pressure around Christmas to have everything go right. You want to make the most of the season of goodwill, the one time of year we're all supposed to be healthy and happy and spending fond hours with our loved ones. But sometimes things just don't work out that way.
These folks from all around the world recently went online to share the stories of what ruined their Christmas. Maybe you can relate?
40. Time to bounce
39. Two to mango
38. On the house
37. Christmas is boss
36. I'm sorry, your dad is awful
35. A Christmas miracle
34. Get rewarded for stealing
33. Dad partied too hard
32. Holiday typhoon
31. You need a new boyfriend
30. Bugged by a bug
29. Apart for the holidays
28. To help him I must become him
27. The uninvited
26. "I'm not forgiving someone who isn't sorry"
25. Here's a happy one for ya
24. Ghosting you for Christmas
23. Arguing WWII with a history teacher
22. Christmas tips
21. Time to go to the doctor
20. Don't worry: the worst doesn't happen
19. Christmas is canceled
18. Alone for the holidays
17. Mail carriers make Christmas happen
16. Great grandmother
15. Antisocial tech
14. It's all about ME
13. Stop projecting
12. It's Facebook official
11. Airing your dirty laundry
10. Our gift is you doing exactly what we want
9. Over the phone?!
8. The ER on Christmas
7. What's worse: mean parents or boring ones?
6. Christmas should never be this stressful
5. Spread the love a bit
4. he sounds like a real peach
3. Want Christmas off? Get prengnant
2. Honestly, I can't blame you for this at all
Is anyone else’s family this dysfunctional? Every year there is an argument in my family and after 32 years I was the one who blew up for the first time.
Long story short, i’m half-Korean/half-white. My mom is Korean. My dad side is white. So we only have my Dad’s side here in the US. For years, I watched my some of my dad’s side speak down to my mom. They never invite her to things. Me and my brother have always been treated like outsiders by some family members.
To be frank, I don’t care how I’m treated. Every year, we always bite our tongues and survive the holidays because it’s only 2-3 times a year. We repeat the process and don’t expect much from these family members. My mom even buys gifts every year for these family members, she gets nothing in return and never complains. My white Grandma is 80 and she’s the only thing anchoring us to some of these family members.
Three times today I watched a family member (aunt) raise her voice to my mom, speak to her as if she doesn’t speak english and shut her down over simple questions like “where should I sit?” I watched my mom quietly recoil and I couldn’t stand to see it again.
This aunt does it the most and I finally blew up. I yelled so loud everyone stopped what they were doing. I told them enough is enough, to start treating my mom with respect and as an equal in this house. To stop speaking to my mom (who’s lived in the US for 35 years) like she doesn’t speak english and stop shutting her down over simple questions. I watched it happen year after year and will not allow it to happen anymore.
My aunt stomped away and was so upset she left. As she was leaving I walked up to my aunt to hand her my mom’s yearly gift to her. I said “for 30 years I watched my mom give you a gift every year. I watched her speak to you as an equal with respect. I’ve never seen you treat her with the same.” She didn’t say anything but before she left, she apologized to my mom.
Before I left, I apologized to everyone and explained why I was upset. Everyone was shocked how mad I got. I felt like everyone understood why I was mad. Prior to this (around Thanksgiving) I spoke to some family members about how I was hurt they never included my mom on family things or even texts about family emergencies. Which they have been trying to do more.
After blowing up, it made things awkward. People trickled out early too. Now my grandma is talking about not doing Christmas anymore due to the constant family drama. I feel bad, but I’ve never felt so proud to stand up for my mom.
1. I ruined Christmas!
So. I work for an electronics company that also offers training on products that we sell; you come in at a scheduled time, sit down with a trainer and they'll either teach you something from a set curriculum, or will show you specifically what you want to learn.
We ran a promotion over Christmas to attempt to increase the number of people that took advantage of this training program. In order to attempt to do this, if you bought a particular product, we would offer one free training session kind of like a taster. The conditions were you would either need to sign up for it during the actual purchase, or thirty days immediately after said purchase.
The stage is set. Enter the players:
Me: 'Hi, what can I do for you?'
Customer: 'Hi! I purchased a device last week for my daughter as a Christmas present, and I just found out I can sign her up for a free training session on how to use it.'
M: 'Absolutely! I'll just need to take some information.'
I get the recipient's name and other information.
M: 'Great. The last thing I need is her email address, so she can use it to set up her session.'
C: '[email protected]'
M: 'All right, she's good to go. She'll receive an email in a few minutes explaining how to get started.'
C: 'Wait. What do you mean she'll get an email?'
M: 'She'll receive an email from us explaining how to set up the session.'
C: 'NOOO! This was a surprise Christmas present! You have to stop the email from being sent!'
I know that it is impossible, because after I submitted it, it goes straight out, but being fairly new, I ran to the back and spoke to a manager that confirmed it. I went back out with the worst sinking stomach feeling I've ever had.
M: 'I am so sorry, but it has already been sent out.'
C: 'I can't believe this. YOU JUST RUINED CHRISTMAS!'
She turned around and left, leaving a line of customers staring at me. Over the next few days, I kept replaying it over in my head, convincing myself it was her own fault for not telling me it was a surprise. Even though that is true, I should have been smarter, and assumed or at least asked. Either way, it was one of my worst moments.