The holidays are meant to be the most delightful time of the year, yet unfortunately, not everybody has the opportunity to enjoy the magic of Christmas in the same manner. Read the story to know how this woman’s Christmas was celebrated with her fiance’s family and how you would deal with such a situation.
Source: Reddit
This year I went to my fiancé’s house for Christmas. It was my first time going, as we would typically go to my family’s house instead.
I got a (rather pricey) gift for my fiancé “Dan” related to his hobbies, I got nice gifts for “Dan’s” parents based off of things I’d talked about with them before, and I got a small pack of chocolates for each of Dan’s other relatives (I didn’t know them that well).
I wasn’t expecting many gifts from Dan’s relative’s because I didn’t know many of them that well, but I was certainly expecting more than I got.
At first, I was excited when I saw that there was a big pile of gifts for me. However, once I opened the first one it was just a piece of coal. Everyone laughed, and I just kind of laughed along thinking it was a gag gift and that the other gifts would be different. But every single one turned out to be coal. All 18 of them.
I started to get upset, so I cried and lashed out at Dan. But he calmly explained that apparently this is a longstanding tradition in his family where they give coal to newcomers who are celebrating Christmas with them for the first time. He explained that it’s just easier that way since all the relatives who might not know the newcomer well don’t have to stress over finding a gift, and it’s a fun experience for the newcomer as well.
I told Dan I couldn’t believe I skipped my own family’s celebration for this and left. But now Dan and some of his family are blowing up my phone saying I embarrassed him in front of his relatives and that I made it awkward for everyone. So did I Overreact ?
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