A Family Donated Some Christmas Gifts to a Young Mom — Then Invited Themselves Into Her Home
Published Sept. 8 2023, 5:20 p.m. ET
No one is exempt from falling on hard times. However, that doesn’t stop people from kicking you when you’re down. That’s exactly why we should try to do good, always.
But this TikTok user’s “traumatizing” tale proved that all acts of kindness aren’t so kind.
In a viral video, a mom of two named Michelle Fairburn looked back on the time she thought she was being gifted a hamper full of Christmas gifts from a good Samaritan.
Instead, she ended up getting embarrassed.
This woman said she was embarrassed by a family of do-gooders when she was a young mom.
I hate to break it to you, but the gift of giving doesn’t come with bragging rights. Somebody should have told this family that before they barged into Michelle’s home under the guise of doing a good deed.
“At the time I was 23 years old. I was in college and I was part of a single moms group in the college and they had a signup sheet for this Christmas hamper,” she said in the TikTok.
“And I'm like, You know what? They're gonna give me gifts. They're gonna give us gift cards. They're gonna give my kids gifts. Sure, why not? I'm going to sign up for the Christmas hamper,” she went on.
Less than a month before Christmas day, she got the news that she’d receive her hamper soon. But she got a lot more than she expected at her front doorstep.
“So I'm thinking we just get to pick up a box and we get to take it home,” Michelle said. “No, that's not what happened.”
The family who gifted her the Christmas hamper showed up at her door and insisted on coming in.
A middle-aged white woman and her family showed up at Michelle’s house unexpectedly with her Christmas hamper. What’s worse? They insisted on coming inside.
“OK, the family themselves — the ones that were donating the Christmas box — came to our homes and spent time with us as if we were frickin' zoo animals.”
According to Michelle, the encounter was “so freakin’ traumatizing” that she still has “flashbacks to this day.” She advised that do-gooders who really want to make a difference do their gift-giving anonymously.
And if you’re doing it for the right reasons, you’d agree. The comment section was proof that Michelle’s experience wasn’t isolated. In fact, giving gifts for clicks isn’t uncommon.
In the comments, other people shared how what could have been a good deed turned into an embarrassing experience.
“Back when I went to church, they had the church donate gifts to a family but the family had to walk up on stage to accept the gifts,” someone else wrote.
While many commenters had been on the receiving end of this situation, there were a few who had done the gifting.
“My [family] did the donating once and I never knew why I felt awful sitting there watching them open gifts. This puts it into words. Thank you for sharing,” another user commented.
Hopefully, Michelle’s video will be a reminder to us all that you can't put a pricetag on someone’s dignity.