I am home around Christmas, feeling a little sick, when I get a knock at my door. I open it to see a delivery driver there with some food.

Driver: “I have a gift delivery for [My Name].”

Me: “Yes, that’s me. Who is it from?”

Driver: “I don’t know, I just deliver the food!”

He hands it over to me, and I see a note from a friend who wishes me a merry Christmas and to get well soon. I go ‘aww’, say thanks to the driver, and go to close the door.

Driver: “Ahem, ma’am.”

Me: “Yes?”

Driver: “My tip?”

Me: “Oh… I… it’s a gift.”

Driver: “And I delivered it.”

I am a little flummoxed by this. While I usually agree with tipping drivers, this was an unexpected gift, and I would have assumed the tip was covered by my very generous friend. I manage to find three dollar bills in my wallet and hand them to him.

Driver: “Ugh…”

He tuts and storms off. I shout out Merry Christmas but he ignores me.

 I still don’t know what the proper etiquette was for that situation but I am pretty sure he didn’t meet his end either!

It is Christmas dinner and my family and I are over at my mom’s house. The whole family is there, including great-grandma. It’s time to serve the food, and my nephew comes up with this:

Nephew: “This is crap. Can I have something else?”

After a moment of shock, my brother pipes up.

Brother: “Grandma has been cooking this meal for two days. You can either eat what you are served or go hungry.” 

Sister-In-Law: “Besides that, you had all of that food on Thanksgiving and candy on Halloween, and you’re going out with your friends on New Year’s Eve. Do you really want to tell them you won’t be able to come because you decided to act entitled? You know we raised you better than that.”

My nephew silently ate his meal.

I am about three years old and it’s Christmas. My mom, dad, and I are at church with a bunch of other people. The pastor is giving a sermon and I put my hand up. He thinks I’m waving at him, so he waves back. I put my hand down, but then I put it back up.)

Pastor: “[My Name], do you have a question?” 

Me: “Yeah, I think we should sing ‘happy birthday’ to Jesus because today’s his birthday. “

According to my dad later, the whole congregation, especially the old people, went crazy, as they thought it was the cutest thing ever.

I’m about five, and I am a very shy, sensitive kid. Our teacher aide does not like me. When the lead teacher isn’t around, she picks on me and yells at me for the most minor errors until I cry. My parents know and have complained to the school.

One day, I come back to school after being sick for a few days. My doctor has prescribed an antibiotic that must be taken at lunchtime. It’s too large of a pill for me to take all at once, so it must be cut in half. The aide brings me the pill, uncut, and a glass of water.

Aide: “Here you go. Take your medicine.”

I stare at this gigantic pill but don’t say anything.

Aide: “Now what?”

Me: “Mommy cuts it in half.”

Aide: “I’m not your mommy.”

Me: “But it’s too big.”

Aide: “No, it’s not.”

Me: “But it’s too big!”

Aide: “No, you’re gonna take it.”

I start to cry.

Aide: “And you’re crying again! I’m not your mommy and I’m not cutting that in half. Be a woman and take it.” 

I’m still crying.

Aide: “Why do you cry all the time?! Take the pill. Be a woman.”

I took the pill and immediately threw it back up on her. Swift justice served. My mother personally read her the riot act after that. She was moved to aftercare duty a short time later and gave me a wide berth. As an adult, I still can’t comprehend what kind of person would pick on a five-year-old until they cry.

I work at a well-known video game store. It’s the week leading up to Christmas, so we’re low on a lot of the high-demand items. Because I’ve been checking for most of these items at other stores over the past few days, I have a good idea of how hard everything is to find.

A middle-aged woman comes in, looking rushed.

Me: “Hi there. Can I help you find anything?”

Customer: “Yeah, I need a Switch and some games for it.”

Me: “Unfortunately, we don’t have any Switch consoles in stock. I know [Nearby Location] has a couple left, though.”

Customer: “I’m not driving out there! I came here for one!”

Me: “We don’t have any in the store, though. I can even call and have them hold one for you, if you’re worried about it being sold soon.”

Customer: “I refuse to drive all the way to [Nearby Location]! It’s too far!”

The location in question is about three minutes away. Even with traffic, it’d be no more than five minutes.

Me: “Ma’am, we do not have any Switch systems in the store. Not even used. I can sell you the games, but I have absolutely no system for you. I can call [Nearby Location] and hold one for you or I can have one ordered online and sent to your house, but there is no system in this store that you can purchase right now.”

Customer: “Fine! I’ll just shop at [Competitor]!”

I let her leave. The competitor in question was also sold out. The kicker? We got more Switch systems in the next day.