- A Reddit user wrote that she and her brother regularly receive Christmas cookies that they don’t like to eat from a family friend
- “We just don’t want the cookies anymore because they just go to waste, they taste awful and we can’t even find the time to donate them,” the sister said
- Comments suggested that the siblings keep the cookies or find a way to make use of them
A brother and sister’s holiday wish this year is to decline a family friend’s usual gift of cookies, but they are struggling on how to tell her to stop without being a grinch.
According to an “Am I the A——?” post on Reddit, the sister, who identified herself as being in her 30s along with her brother, wrote that Emily, a friend of one of their parents, has been like a second mother to them during their childhoods. The siblings live together and their parents are deceased.
“However, [Emily] sent us cookies for the last few years as Christmas gifts,” the sister said. “And these aren’t homemade cookies, these are cookies from some catalog that, to be honest, taste like cardboard. And as a result, we don’t eat them and they expire to the point where they become unedible [sic] because they’re so stale.”
Against the idea of wasting food while people go hungry, the sister said that she tried donating the cookies immediately but the siblings’ schedules make it difficult for that to happen due to personal commitments and stores closing early for the holidays.
“As a result, my brother and I concluded, we have to tell Emily that while we appreciate the thought and all, we don’t want any more of these cookies for Christmas especially because we don’t eat them,” said the sister.
“We feel bad for Emily because she spends her hard-earned money on a gift that goes to waste every year,” she continued.
The sister also mentioned that she spoke with her therapist about her dilemma. “She told me, ‘But it’s usually the thought that counts you might be hurting her feelings if you tell her,’ ” the sister recalled.
The sister further clarified that she and her brother don’t want Emily to spend money on stuff they don’t eat. She also added that they are not asking her for another gift.
“We just don’t want the cookies anymore because they just go to waste, they taste awful, and we can’t even find the time to donate them,” said the sister, who then asked the Reddit forum users for advice on what she and her brother should do.
“Keep them in your car and I’m sure you will manage to donate them easily enough,” wrote a commenter. “This probably means a lot to her. She would likely be terribly hurt and embarrassed.”
“Can you put a price on hurting Emily’s feelings? Put the overpriced cookies in the trash, appreciate the thought, move on,” chimed in another user.
A commenter offered an alternative solution, writing: “Maybe let her [Emily] know that for gifts this year and moving forward y’all are requesting donations to food banks to help others in honor of your parents? Just a thought.”
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“Cookies could be ground up and used to replace graham crackers in a crust,” another commenter suggested.
“You’re accepting her kindness and her seemingly genuine desire to keep a connection to you and your brother. It’s not about the cookies. Be a gracious recipient and accept the cookies, and please call or email etc to thank her. The cookies are a non issue,” wrote a user.
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In an update, the sister wrote that she didn’t expect her post to attract that much attention.
“I’ll let my brother know about this information,” she wrote to the forum. “As I said before we literally don’t want anything but at least we can try to find a food pantry.”
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