A woman who has just spent Christmas with her future husband's family for the first time was driven to the point of tears after realising each and every single one of the 18 presents they'd bought her were in fact just wrapped up pieces of coal.
The bride-to-be, who would usually spend Christmas at her family home, had treated her fiancé Dan to quite an expensive, hobby-related gift, and she'd also bought some nice things for Dan’s parents inspired by previous conversations. For the rest of Dan’s relatives, who she didn't know all that well, she'd bought small packets of chocolates.
As she hasn't yet gotten close to Dan's family, she hadn't expected much in the way of presents, so was surprised and excited to see a huge pile of gifts just for her. Unfortunately, things took an upsetting turn once she began peeling away the wrapping paper.
Taking to Reddit, where she goes by the username u/Virtual_Ad_3893, the hurt bride recalled: "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 apparently this is a longstanding tradition in his family where they gift 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."
Unable to believe she'd missed out on her own family celebrations for such a humiliating display, she let Dan know exactly what she thought of it all before heading off.
Now Dan and his family are accusing her of embarrassing him, and she's started to wonder whether she should have just gone along with the 'joke' to make things less awkward.
One fellow Reddit user advised: "You skipped your family‘s Christmas for this, and they shouldn’t have done this to you without a warning or your consent.
"Just because THEY enjoy this tradition doesn’t mean it can‘t be hurtful to you, and they clearly ruined the occasion and then gave you a stupid explanation. Especially your fiancé is inconsiderate in all of this, you deserve better! This was legit humiliation."
Another commented: "This was a thoughtless and mean-spirited thing to do. You were so thoughtful and kind to them. I am so sorry, hope you had a happier time with your family.
"Tell your fiancé you need time to think about this. This was a bad joke. Block all others, you don't need their continued negativity. You did nothing wrong, it's totally on them."
Have you ever received a cruel gift? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
