As much as we’d like the cursed year of 2020 to end without leaving it the opportunity to raise our cortisol levels from stress even further, it doesn’t mean that the Christmas holidays are canceled.
In fact, if you’re reading the post, I must give you a big round of applause for surviving it, ‘cause at this point, no one can be sure about virtually anything. Like whether or not we won’t choke on a turkey breast covered in gravy, or whether or not you might enter a warzone with your in-laws for making fun of Covid deniers.
But that doesn’t mean there were no fails. On the contrary, Christmas makes everyone super vulnerable to all kinds of failure. Like, receiving the worst Santa gifts, finding the perfume bottle you gifted to your loved one next to the toilet fresheners, or simply realizing your Christmas hasn’t been very merry—no one is immune to their fair share of festive breakdown.
I leave the stage to this merry Bored Panda compilation of all the what-ifs and oh-my-gods turned reality that just reminds us once again that this is not your usual Christmas. It’s Christmas: 2020 edition.
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There Was An Attempt To Wrap A Gift For Christmas
My 81-Year-Old Grandma Didn't Look Close Enough At The Jumper She Bought For Xmas This Year
My Sister Rented A Flat Here In North Of Iceland For Christmas, This Is Her View
The average British household spends around £500 on gifts during the traditional holiday season, equaling Americans who spend about $650, according to BBC. Let these numbers sink in for a moment. Gifting is a quintessential part of the Christmas season, the act which makes us all somehow happier, and even helps to make our relationships stronger.
Equally, choosing the wrong gift to your loved one or a family member can have a negative toll on your relationship with them. Elizabeth Dunn, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada told BBC that “choosing the wrong gift can be kind of risky for relationships because it says you don’t have anything in common.”
A similar 2008 study looked at how good and bad gifts can influence relationships. The results published in Social Cognition magazine showed that “males, as opposed to females, reported less similarity to their new romantic partner after receiving an undesirable gift, suggesting that males are more likely to react unfavorably to receiving gifts they do not want.”
One Sprout For Christmas Dinner
Expiration Day
Watched My Friends Dogs Today While They Were Gone, Tried To Get A Cute Picture For Them And Ended Up With Accidental Gem/Nightmare. Merry Christmas!
Other studies have shown that while shopping for gifts, we tend to focus on the person’s unique traits. As a result, gifts become very specific, but it may lead us to “ignore other aspects of their wants and needs, which may make us buy them an inferior gift.” As an alternative, gifting the same things to multiple people won’t make them compare who got what, and they also may be happy with the same thing.
The question remains whether we, as a society, put too much importance on the vain side of Christmas. Stressing out about gifting and receiving gifts causes the danger of forgetting what we all gather for in the first place. After all, these unprecedented times that we live in now urge us to rethink our values and priorities and turn to increasingly everlasting things.
Most Of My Gifts Are Stuck In A Distribution Center, And Have Been For Over 2 Weeks. Guess My Brother In Law Gets This
My 6-Year-Old Got Tattoo Markers For Christmas And Disappeared For Half An Hour. Bonus: We Can't Get It To Come Off
That Is How You Know Your Mom Listens To Everything You Say
For Christmas, My Dad Received The Exact Outfit That He Was Wearing
Cat Ruins Christmas Photo
Sister-In-Law Orders A Japanese Whiskey For Me Every Christmas. I Don’t Think She Read The Description This Time When She Shipped Me A $50 Bottle Of Soy Sauce
Or maybe it’s a subtle hint you should stop drinking and start eating sushi?
My Girlfriend And I Bought Each Other The Exact Same Present. I've Never Laughed So Hard In My Life
Well, Back To Video Games And Beer
I Ordered A 6ft Tall Rainbow Tree From A Facebook Ad And This Is What Showed Up. I'm Crying From Laughing So Hard, I've Never Had This Happen In Real Life
I Got My 80 Yr Old Father This As A Gag Gift. When He Opened It, He Got All Embarrassed And Immediately Tucked It Away. Later, I Privately Asked Him Why He Got All Weird About It, And I Found Out That He Was Under The Impression That It Was A Sex Toy
My Parents (Late 70s) Got Me A PS5 Controller For Christmas. I Do Not Own A Playstation 5
I Know It’s Supposed To Be A Soldier Kneeling But I Don’t See That
12-Year-Old Set His Lawn On Fire After Getting Magnifying Glass For Christmas
Christmas Day was memorable to say the least! My twelve-year-old son Cayden, who is an avid reader, an honor student, and interested in science, asked for a magnifying glass for Christmas. (It’s like a basketball player asking for basketball shoes.) We thought it was for reading, but instead, he tried to see if he could light a fire with it! We discovered that he and his two brothers went out on the driveway to see if they could burn a couple holes in some newspaper. Everything was under control until the boys came running into the house telling us that a corner of the lawn was on fire and the Christmas lights were melting! Justin and I rushed outside to see the entire front lawn turning black! We grabbed buckets, turned on the hose and sprinklers, and I grabbed blankets to smother and trap it - before it could spread any more into the neighbors' yard! What a sight to see - a bunch of people running around crazy trying to put a front lawn fire out while wearing matching Christmas jammies!
I want to reiterate this was an accident. It could have been worse but it wasn’t. So instead of a tragedy, it will now be a Christmas to remember! 2019 - The Christmas lawn lit on fire. Oh and never buy a magnifying glass for your son!
The Letters On My Holiday Bathroom Towel Wore Off
Every Year My In-Laws Have A Gingerbread House Competition And Every Year I’m Still A Disappointment
I’m A 23-Year-Old Man That Can Rebuild An Engine, Fabricate My Own Parts, And Drive Anything With A Steering Wheel. But For The Life Of Me Cannot Wrap An X-Mas Gift
What I Ordered vs. What I Got
My Wife Started Painting Ornaments For Christmas, And Only Realized After She Finished This Bird That She Did It Upside Down
Still beautiful! Paint another on the other side facing the right direction and it looks intentional 😁
Nailed It.
Wasn't On, Nobody Standing Near It, And My Oven Just Shattered. Just In Time For The Holidays
My Brother Got A Shirt For Christmas
Got This For Christmas Because I Always Lose My Keys, But Now I Can’t Find My Keys To Put It On The Keychain
Walked Outside To Leave For Work Today, And Some Kind Individual Stole All My Wheels. Happy Holidays
Bought My Wife's Christmas Gift On 12/10 And Was So Proud Of Myself When I Paid Extra For Two-Day FedEx Shipping
It's been from WI to IL to NE to CO to NV to UT and is now in CA. I live on the East Coast.
After Buying Christmas Decorations For My House, I Was Biking Home And Was Hit By A Car (Hit And Run) Causing Me To Black Out From Massive Head Trauma. This Is How Much I Owe For My Ambulance Bill
Of course we do...which is why half of the country has been fighting for it....
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FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP VOTING FOR REPUBLICANS. Americans should have access to universal health care just like the citizens of every other first world country.
The only sentence in which words ambulance and bill are allowed to appear together is “Bill drives an ambulance”.
[European citizen] 2 years ago I needed an ambulance, emergency surgery, 24h intensive care, X-rays and ultrasounds, and 6 days at the hospital including breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and desert every day. In USD that cost me $70 for everything. They even drove me home, I was fragile and a nurse called for a prepaid cab.
Hey hey hey... don’t tell me they f*****g charge you for needing an AMBULANCE??!! This is sick!
Plus is hospital bill was probably over 5000 if he doesn't have insurance. Or if he does, in some cases.
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Australian ambulance bills are $1200 per call out but insurance is only $100-something a year for a family. Also if you can’t pay, they write the debt off as “for the good of humanity”
why do you owe that? in the states- when you have been a victim of a crime you can file for a "victims" claim- and the state will take care of it. if you weren't aware or you weren't informed of it (which wouldn't surprise me) DO IT!
Wow! Didn't know that. I'm glad you posted this, as it's info everyone here in the states can use.
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Oh man ... I wish even the countries not that far developed will one day have healthcare insurance for everyone. This literally is the exact point of division between countries that claim you have rights ... on paper, and paper has plenty of patience ... or a country actually ensuring your rights, by not having them depend on your material wealth, but on you being a living thing alone. Like every first world country is executing with great success. The less developed countries, I hope, will at least try to get to this basic achievement.
I live in Taiwan. About US$25- is deducted from my pay every month. Tuesday I was so lucky that I had another root canal. It cost me five bucks US (my dentist studied in U Michigan, Ann Arbor). Once I had an accident woodcarving; half hour ambulance ride to the emergency room plus treatment several times cost about US$25. Tell me again how bad public health is.
A lot of people will choose to drive themselves to the ER (when possible) just because the ambulance is so expensive.
Ridiculous - now that you have a sensible, caring and compassionate President (or will do soon) hopefully, this sort of crap can be consigned to the part of history titled ' things we got wrong'. I have lived all round the World and I don't think I know of anywhere in it that would charge for an emergency ambulance ride to hospital - it's just bloody callous, and wrong !!
Americans unspoken reality of all being one health crisis away from bankruptcy.
Donald has made American great again?! Here socialiste "communiste as u Usa citizens think that's what we have" Europe we have real health care for everyone, even those who are illegal aliens and for non residents of the country. Believe it or not our governments and countries are doing far better than great usa. Strange is it not!
"Donald" didn't make ANYTHING great, and you're right, "We the People" have A LOT to fix!
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If killed, that bill would be even higher. I hope they found the jerk. I had a friend riding her bike in a spot she had to ride with traffic fir a short didstance when a guy in a car reach out and swatted her in the ass. She crashed, broke her shoulder and another driver stopped and drove her straight to the hospital. The jerk who swatted her drove on and probably told a few of his asshole friends over a laugh and a brewski.
Yup, YOUR fault for riding your bike in their way. Gotta pay for it. SMH at our insurance, TF. It is so ridiculous. I get paying for a service and machines and equipment but many times it is so overinflated thanks to insurance companies. I bet if OP made a stink and kept records of documentation and such they will get tired of it and write it off. I had a work comp issue that was denied. My assumption is that a co-worker who wasn't in the room made a guess on what happenened to me, they ran with it. I kept my phone records, etc, in cse I needed it and kept them for years after just in case. They were telling me nothing, very secretive, avoided my calls. When I told them about the co-worker not being in the room and if that was their reason for denial, they stopped bugging me and I never paid the bill.
Had a stroke, my ambulance bill was the same. Who needs Universal Healthcare, right?
I heard of someone who got a $10k bill for the helicopter! Her insurance paid it...it saved her life!
Where I live is fairly remote, so I've allowed some of my property to be designated to be a landing zone for medical helicopters. Emergency personnel in this county know where we live and it saves precious time being able to stop here instead of continuing on to the closest hospital.
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Sorry that you don't live in any other first world country....
U.S. named itself "1st world." How arrogant. The toughest countries in which to live/survive [irregular or no electricity, no potable water] were labeled "3rd-world" countries. By Americans. Who's "2nd world"? Former Commie countries, mostly in Europe. Cruel. American guys think they're superior to every1 on the planet...incld'g American women [who graduate college at higher rates than U.S. guys; women also have more grads in grad school]. Women are taking over since guys eff'ed up for 244+ yrs~~they'll have better results w/o the deviousness, inequity & brutality.
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Canada here, you are under the impression that health care is free in Canada, it's not. I paid over $500 for an ambulance to take me to the ER when my back seized up from a ruptured disc. Other than taking my blood pressure they did nothing
Merry Christmas from the Republicans! And a very expensive New Year.
In the US the can bill you for emergency ambulance visits, but if you dont have insurance, legally if you tell them so, they have to remove it. Federal law regarding federal funding for emergency services. This is what they bill your insurance company, so if you dont have, you get it wiped off. People just dont realize that.
Oh my! My ambulance ride was literally down the driveway of Urgent Care, a couple hundred feet up the next driveway to the hospital ER. That ride cost me $200. They didn't even have time to start an IV or give me oxygen.
Most services have a set fee anytime they leave their base. It is not set by the ambulance service, but usually by the city or county government where they are located. The price varies according to any supplies used and mileage. If yours was $200 then it was one of the lowest that I've heard of in a long time.
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It's likely that a security camera captured the event. You might be able to find the driver.
America is a crazy mess , you get charged for an ambulance? that's insane it should be free like in the UK. land of the free right?
Where do you live? I was charged 3 k just to enter the ER California here
That's what happens when guns are more important than healthcare ...
Talk to your insurance company. They should cover this. I once had to threaten to take Allstate to small claims court before they paid for my physical therapy (I still have pain 6 years later from this accident) after I was rear ended by a texting driver with no insurance while sitting innocently at a red light. Talk to your insurance. Since your medical fees cannot be taken care of by the responsible party your insurance should be obligated in your policy to cover it at least partially, if not fully. These are multimillion dollar companies. Make them hold up their end of the policy. And get better soon!
Yep, it's a broken system, just filed Chapter 13 for 100K medical tab when I caught covid in Jan. 2020.
Remember kids - that's JUST the ambulance! There is the ER bill, and the doctor bill, and if admitted the hospital bill, and if seen by other doctors, their bills...
not to put salt on the wound, but in Italy it can't happen, especially in an accident! I always find it so sad that sometimes an American cannot be cured except by selling the house or something else!
I am very happy to hear that you have recovered enough to get a bill. I lost a friend to a hit-and-run (he was on his e-bike) this year.
$80 flat fee in the part of Canada I live in though a bike accident would be paid for by insurance .
What? Here in Canada I ran into a car on my bike and had to bill and got 5 grand. Even if I had to pay an ambulance bill its a flat rate at $80
See if your hospital/ambulance provider has financial aid... they may be able to help you or at least set up an affordable payment plan.
That is stupid greedy! Only in the USA! Glad you aren’t, but you could be dead, and they would’ve charged your insurance company for this still! New laws are coming. As far as pricing goes.. hope it makes it a bit better! We shall see..
You actually got off cheap - here in NYC, pretty much ANY ambulance care bill will be around $5K. It's so quaint that we keep calling ourselves a "first-world country," isn't it?
The insurance for the person hitting you, should pay all your medical.
I am so sorry, you must be american. I am happy to be danish. If more americans knew , how they are being lied to about “socialism” in western europe , and knew how he avtulayy live, they would turn their horrible systems around.
How far did they have to drive?? They can create payments for you vs all at once, if they haven’t told you it’s an option. I was charged $500 12 years ago in Bay Area of CA.
I'd tell 'em I didn't okay their services, and maybe they should find out who did.
I was taken by ambulance to nearby hospital...a five minute drive. For $2800. But that's probably just because it's California
The number one cause of personal bankruptcy in the US is medical debt.
America was a rich man's idea. There was no intention for poor people to live here!
OMG! They must not have insurance. I got my ambulance bill last month and it was $50.
Baby you never called an ambulance you always calling Uber find someone who called you an Uber that's insane
With massive head trauma? Yeah good luck with that. Some of these comments are astoundingly stupid.
Load More Replies... I'm sorry, but to all the US citizens complaining about how high this bill is... You do know what health insurance is for don't you? And do you also know what massive head trauma is, and that this person probably would have had permanent brain damage, or worse, without those medics on that ambulance? Answer me this..... How much is your life worth?
And how much do you + your employer pay for this insurance? What will you do if you lose your job?
Load More Replies...When The Perfume You Bought Your Wife For Christmas Ends Up In The Toilet As 'Air Freshener'
Dad's Christmas Hasn’t Been Very Merry
This 'Bottle Of Scotch' At My Office's White Elephant Gift Exchange Was Stolen Twice Before Anyone Opened It
Stolen means someone claimed it. The first person picks a gift, the next person and pick one or "steal: the one the first person got and then that person gets to pick another gift. The last person to pick has the best deal since they can "steal" gift from anyone or take the last remaining gift.
Apparently One Of Our Present From Family Was A Box Of Fudge. Dogs Figured It Out And Now There Is Puke All Over My House
One of my cats sat in a Christmas bag under the tree that contained a blanket for my mom. And peed. I washed it good, kept it, and bought my mom a new one and moved all the presents to my son's room where the kitties don't go. Its funny because out if the 4 blankets I bought for gifts, the cat peed on the exact one that I wanted for myself but was giving it to mom instead. So it worked out.
Ordered An Ortament That Was Described As Ceramic In The Description (Top Pic), What I Got Was The Other 2 Pics
My Friends In The Sky Decided To Leave Me A Christmas Present While I Was Away. Thanks, Guys
There's a guy a dozen posts up with a black biohazard suit he might lend you.
When Your Puppy Chews Your Son’s Big Gift On Christmas Eve
Happy Christmas
Sibling Gift Exchange
My 4-Year-Old Daughter Brought Home This Gingerbread Man From Daycare. It’s Already Startled My Wife And Me A Few Times
This is my favorite so far, and there are so many ‘good ones’ and I use that term loosely. Because frankly, some of these are terrible and traumatic for the people involved!
Been Waiting 2 Months For My Gas Range To Be Shipped From Italy Only To Have Them Drop And Smash It 20ft From My House. No More Xmas At House
I Asked The Kids To Check On How Many Eggs We Had Left, Quote "We Have Plenty"
The Most Terrifying Christmas Cookie That I Accidentally Made
I Got My Dad A Christmas Sweater. Didn't Notice The 2nd Carrot Until The Family Photo
Heard Something During The Christmas Dinner, Came Back To This
Opening A Brand New Xbox One S On Christmas Morning To Find A Used VHS Player
Dad Is Fired From Christmas Card Duty
Lol, I was looking at it and thinking "what's the problem" lol! I thought the arrow was being used to point out what was wrong, until it dawned on me that it was the arrow that WAS the bloody problem lol!
My First Apple Pie I Made Last Night Got Left On The Roof Of My Car Never To Be Seen Again. Pour One Out For The Homie
This Is What Happens When You Forget To Poke A Hole In Spaghetti Squash And Then Attempt To Cut It After It’s Baked. It Explodes In Your Face
We Had A Ton Of Rain And Lost Power Early Christmas Morning, Things Got Worse From There
There is a stream that runs underneath a bridge bypass. We had so much rain, it overflowed and eroded.
Someone Got To The Presents First
Christmas Lunch Ruined For A Few Extra $ On Weigh-In
Ordered A Blanket W Photos Of Our Deceased Dog For Christmas. Received A Very Nice Blanket -- With Someone Else's Dog In It
Got My Positive Corona Results On Sunday, Today My Cupboard All Of A Sudden Decided To Ejaculate All Of Its Glasses Into The Christmas Tree. 2021 Here We Come
28 Years Ago I Had To “Share” My Nintendo With My Sister
My Daughter's Christmas List I Just Read. I Almost Choked On My Burger
nah...the last part has a diffrerent handwriting .. and yes, i'm fun at parties :D
They Probably Should Have Coordinated
My Secret Santa Gift That I Got Last Year. I Wanted An Animation Book
My Parents Got Me A Beautiful New Guitar For Christmas That Broke In The Case
My ‘Hotel Chocolat Hamper’ That I Won In The Staff Raffle. The Raffle Was In Place Of Staff Bonuses This Year
Christmas AirPods Turn Out To Be A Chewy Toy
Accidentally Put Christmas Breakfast On An Active Burner
Long Distance Girlfriend Sent Me A Christmas Present. Raccoons Decided It Was Theirs
Guess Who Got A Call Yesterday Saying He Had Work On Christmas Day
I feel this! I got asked to work Christmas after picking up a Christmas Eve shift as an acute care nurse. It was my first week coming back from having COVID. It would make five 13 hour shifts in a row. Thank goodness someone else filled in before I had time to accept. I hope you still made the most out of the season!
At Least It's Something
My Annual Christmas Cookie Fail Ladies And Gentleman. Note To Self: Don’t Feed Baby Yoda/Grogu Cookies After Midnight
Merry Christmas To The Ground
Just Plugged In The New Monitor I Got For Christmas, 144 Hz Never Looked So Good
My 70-Year-Old Grandma Gifted Me “Anime” Underwear For Christmas. Had To Explain That It’s Not Anime
I Ordered A Sweater For My Roommate And I Think They Sent Me The Wrong One. Poor Grampy
My Mom's Christmas Cookies Before And After Baking
If You Don't Succeed, Try Again
After Weeks Of Waiting, My Son’s Stocking Arrived. It's December 29th
Husband Grabbed His Gift From The Front Porch This Morning, He'll Never Guess What It Is
We have had this problem. Once it was a TV for me. We just tell each other don't get the gifts that day. You can have it go to someone else's house if itnis that big of a surprise.
Spent Two Days Making Christmas Cookies. Put Them In The Freezer. Open The Freezer For Something Else, And The Container Slips Out And Lands Face Down
A Family Friend Of Ours Son Opened Every Gift In Their House While They Were Sleeping Last Night
I did the same thing when I was young. 'Mum, these won't fit me?' (Holding up trousers intended for dad).
Auntie Sure Has A Sense Of Humor
My Christmas Present
My Wife And 5-Year-Old Surprised Me With Homemade Christmas Cookies Tonight
One Of My Cats Gave Me A Fantastic Christmas Present Today
I almost downvoted this bc of how much it totally sucks but I know that’s not the point of all these. But that really sucks.
Trying To Pop Out My Xmas Ice Cubes
I've done this before too. Lol! I've found running water on the back side to soften/loosen helps me push the ice out easier.
Tried To Take A Nice Picture With My Dog For Xmas. She Objected By Clawing My Nip
I Got My Girl A Switch, Headphones, And A Book On Toasts. She Got Me A Shirt That Says “I Lose Weight” In Japanese. Merry Xmas Everyone
What I Ordered vs. What I Got
My Niece’s Reaction To Getting Clothes For Christmas Is A Whole Mood
I have seen plenty of kids her age be gracious and genuinely appreciative when receiving clothing gifts. Even if a kid’s not a burgeoning fashionista, they should still be raised not to act like greedy brats, IMHO.
So Just A Few Days Before Christmas The Middle Strand Of Lights Broke Down In Our Fully Ornamented Tree
That's happening to us before. We just got a cheap set of light and put them on. Couldn't tell at night.
My Brother Ordered This For My Boyfriend For Christmas. We Live Together, And Guess Who Opened The Door When The Mail Came?
made in china is actually good. It's facebook ads that you shouldn't trust.
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Those made me feel solidarity with so many people around the country. Thanks for sharing. God bless everyone; let’s hope we all have better luck in the future.
I got just what I wanted this year: a telescope. Thankfully, it arrived undamaged.
Oh wow. That's awesome. I've always wanted a telescope. That's a pretty awesome gift.
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Not mine but my friends. His dog, who they had only had for a few days got into the bin and got a chicken bone stuck in its gut. Had to pick it up from surgery on Christmas Day... cost them a big bill that’s for sure
made in china is actually good. It's facebook ads that you shouldn't trust.
Load More Replies... Those made me feel solidarity with so many people around the country. Thanks for sharing. God bless everyone; let’s hope we all have better luck in the future.
I got just what I wanted this year: a telescope. Thankfully, it arrived undamaged.
Oh wow. That's awesome. I've always wanted a telescope. That's a pretty awesome gift.
Load More Replies... Not mine but my friends. His dog, who they had only had for a few days got into the bin and got a chicken bone stuck in its gut. Had to pick it up from surgery on Christmas Day... cost them a big bill that’s for sure
