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My aunt has given me the same fruitcake 11 years running, so I started a spreadsheet and the number shocked me
Every December since 2013, my aunt Carol from Dayton has handed me a fruitcake at the family party. I never ate one. I just smiled, said thanks, and stuck it in the back of the pantry. Last weekend I finally cleaned that pantry out and lined all 11 tins up on the counter. I sat there staring at this wall of identical red plaid boxes and something clicked. I had spent 11 years pretending to like a gift I never once opened. The worst part is she always asks the same thing at the next party, did you enjoy it, and I always say yes. My cousin Becky gets the same cake and she actually eats hers, so now I feel like the liar in the family. I made a little chart comparing what I gave her each year against what she gave me, and I came out way ahead on thought even if the cake is a running joke. Has anyone else kept a gift for over a decade just to avoid hurting someone's feelings?
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the_holly27d ago
Eleven tins of the same cake is wild, but here is what I really want to know. If aunt Carol found out you never opened a single one, would she be more hurt by the wasted cakes or by the years of you saying you liked them? Because in my experience the lie is the part that stings, not the food. She has spent 11 Decembers picking out that same cake for you, which means she thinks about you every year, even if the gift is lazy. So the real question is why keep the act going instead of just telling her fruitcake is not your thing, maybe ask for something else? Being the nice liar in the family only works until someone finally opens a tin.
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