In a post to the subreddit “r/AmItheA–hole” (AITA), a forum where users ask for input on how they handled a conflict, the woman described what went down at her family Christmas gathering. In her Reddit post, the woman wrote that this year she broke a years-long streak of avoiding family Christmas gatherings for years due to ongoing conflict with her brother. RELATED: Pregnant Woman Cancels Husband’s Massive Family Christmas Party — Now He Is Demanding A ‘Hand-Written Apology’
This year she decided to leave Christmas and take their gifts with her.
The woman wrote that her parents always defend her brother when he says “pretty awful things” to her, leading her to avoid her family each Christmas. But this year, they were having a huge family gathering at her grandparents’ house, which she thought would be easier. She ended up being wrong. She wrote that “like every time my brother decided to get drunk and make fun of me for my weight.” The way he does so is particularly cruel. In front of their whole family, he “pulls food away from me at dinner…and he says I don’t need it because I’m fat, or says I should go jog a lap around the house to earn it.” She went on to say that her parents “like always” simply ignored the bullying, “but so did everyone else except my uncle who laughed at me with my brother.” Rather than sit and endure her family’s bullying, the Redditor decided to fight fire with fire. She writes that she, “ended up leaving halfway through dinner and taking all the presents I’d brought with me. I didn’t make a fuss, I just picked up my bags and left.” RELATED: Man Wonders If He’s Wrong For Banning Kids From Visits With Grandmother Who Fat-Shamed Daughter
Her family accused her of being “selfish” and said she was trying to “ruin Christmas.”
And while they agreed her brother was “being a jerk,” her family maintained they did nothing wrong and she had “punished them for no reason.” They also said she “brought the whole mood down” and that “everyone had a bad time because of me.” The Redditor, as you might guess, had a different take. She feels they had nobody to blame but themselves for their awful Christmas, writing: “I think that sitting around and not saying anything when he was making fun of me was wrong and I feel like…they don’t deserve to get gifts from me.” RELATED: Mom Tells Son He ‘Ruined Christmas’ By Choosing To Spend It With His Dad Instead Of His Stepdad
Most commenters firmly agreed that the Redditors’ family had no right to be upset and got exactly what they deserved.
One commenter wrote, “your family was more upset by losing your presents than they were with the way you were being treated. They’re not worth your concern.” Another felt her family had no one to blame but themselves, writing, “letting someone you care about be treated that way is wrong and you leaving was the consequence of everyone’s actions.” Others applauded the Redditor for putting herself first. One wrote, “Showing them that you value your dignity more highly than presents. That’s a powerful message you are sending!” And several users pointed out how easy it would have been for this Christmas gathering to have gone so much better than it did. As one bluntly put it, “All they had to do to get their presents was call out an a–hole for being an a–hole.” “The bar couldn’t really be lower and still no one met it.” Respect is a two-way street, even on Christmas. RELATED: My Toxic Family Ruined The Holidays For Me John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.
