I hate that American culture has decided you must buy every family member or close friend a gift even though you may not have the money to do so. I hate that expressing your “love” or “care” for someone has to be in the form of a gift. I absolutely despise that my family feels the need to waste their savings and paychecks on hundreds or thousands of dollars for useless shit for me and my siblings and other family members. Every Christmas, all I want is to be with my family, to sit around and eat a nice meal and enjoy seeing each other. Every year I tell people very seriously that I do not want any gifts, yet they shower me and it makes me feel so strange.

Why is Christmas like this? Is it like this for anyone else? I can’t really go around telling my family and friends how I feel so as not to appear unappreciative, so I had to get this off my chest...