Have you had any Christmas Disasters?

RayM wrote: »

Back in my day, I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, drink a cup of sulphuric acid, work twenty-nine hours a day down the mill, and pay the mill owner for permission to come to work. And when we got home, our parents would kill us and dance around on our graves singing 'Hallelujah'.

Luxury! Sheer bloody luxury!

Had a few back in the day as well.

Years ago when my Dad owned a pub the Turkey was left hanging in the beer cellar. One year the Cat jumped up and our Christmas dinner was a One legged Turkey.

In 1986 my parents bought me some goldfish as a Christmas present - My Mum got up early on Christmas day and they had died. Eerily she told her friends that day - "we had a death in the family today" and told them about the dead goldfish. That night My Nana (her Mother) had a heart attack and died.

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

I hinted that I'd like a sammich earlier, twice...nobody made me one.

Worst. Christmas. Ever.

Are you helpless? Could you not make it yourself?

Near disaster only.

Got dropped off on Christmas Eve at Bilbao airport for my trip home from the Basque Country in the late 90s.

Went to the check-in desk only to find out the flight had been cancelled ages ago and that someone should have contacted me. Didn't have a mobile phone at the time, so couldn't call my lift back.

Girl at the desk was lovely though and did everything she could to get me home that night, which ended up involving a flight (on another airline) to Heathrow, a bus to Gatwick, another flight to Dublin and a taxi up to Belfast. I think I arrived home about 2 am, very grateful.

Sunglasses Ron wrote: »

I am fairly sure in the mid to late 90's we went three Xmas Eve and/ or Day in row where the power was cut by storms for at least some period of the 48 hours (I definitely recall one powerless Xmas Eve)

That was '96 or '97?? We had power out over Christmas too. I remember my dad having to drive for hours in bad weather to where his work had a small generator so we could have the basics. I couldn't care less though, I was dying of gastroenteritis.

That's as bad as it ever got for us, though, which ain't very bad at all.

Woke up yesterday morning to the sound of our neighbour kicking the **** out of his girlfriend and his 6 kids screaming crying,his daughter hammering on our door to help her mom.I went outside while my wife rang the guards and he came out to me covered in blood,I tried to calm him down while the guards arrived. Had our kids crying, ruined christmas day a little for us.

irelandspurs wrote: »

Woke up yesterday morning to the sound of our neighbour kicking the **** out of his girlfriend and his 6 kids screaming crying,his daughter hammering on our door to help her mom.I went outside while my wife rang the guards and he came out to me covered in blood,I tried to calm him down while the guards arrived. Had our kids crying, ruined christmas day a little for us.

What a fcuking nightmare. Some terrible things can happen in life. Some are within our control and others, not. But to terrorise all of you on Christmas morning is the lowest of the low. I'm sorry your family had what should have been a day of peace ruined by this vermin.

cantdecide wrote: »

What a fcuking nightmare. Some terrible things can happen in life. Some are within our control and others, not. But to terrorise all of you on Christmas morning is the lowest of the low. I'm sorry your family had what should have been a day of peace ruined by this vermin.

Was not nice to see,He told us he's getting his family from Cork to sort us out for getting involved.

cantdecide wrote: »

Fair play for intervening. Nothing would have suited this gentleman better than to think that he'd be left alone to do this kind of thing without something being done.

I'm sure it was bluff on his part.

Will be a bit slippy for their caravans if they decide to come up today.

Just thought of another cracker, which for obvious reasons i've tried to blank out...

Must be 15 years ago now. My grandmother was up visiting my mother for Christmas.

My mother was on one phone in the sitting room, my grandmother on the other phone in the kitchen... they were both on the line to my aunt in USA.

Next thing my mother hears a bit of a thump and no response from my grandmother. The poor oul biddy had a massive heart attack and died on the floor of my mothers kitchen on XMas eve.

Can only imagine how heartbreaking it must have been for both my mother and my aunt, listening to that over the phone.

We knew nothing of it until XMas morning as we were at our fathers house. When our mother came to pick us up (to go to her house for a while) we could tell something was wrong, nevermind the grandmother not being there in the car. My mother managed to keep the tears in but eventually told us the news. My mother just wanted us to have a nice Christmas but we insisted (well, my sisters) on visiting the body up at the hospital morgue.

Funnily enough, brought our family as close together as we'd been for the long time. Before that, I couldn't remember the last time all my family (ie. mother and father) were able to be in the same room as each other

My one, in comparison to others here is not much but I will share it anyway.

A few years ago when the big freeze was on I was heading from Derry to Dublin on Christmas eve. With the weather being so bad I decided to go early, couldn't have gone the day before due to work commitments. Now on days like this ulsterbus and bus eireann have an arrangement, the busses meet at Monaghan and exchange passengers so both drivers only have to go two hours to there and back again.

But bus eireann in their infinite wisdom (ie miserable bastar*s) only sent one bus in the time there should have been two. So long story short I was sat outside Monaghan bus depot in the freezing cold for four hours on Christmas eve until 8 at night when second bus came.

A normally two hour journey to Dublin took 4 hours as the roads were so bad so got to Dublin at midnight. Walked to O'Connell st with the hopes of getting a taxi and saw one with its light on so put the hand out, thankfully he stops.

Asked me where I was going and I told him, his words were "Not in this car yer not" and drives the fu*k off! I was dumbfounded for a minute and the rest of town resembled a scene from 28 Days Later, there wasn't a sinner around and certainly no taxis to be seen.

So with two big heavy bags on my back and a laptop bag around my neck I trudged the 4-5 miles home trying not to break my neck on the icy paths. I passed a midnight mass, I think the church is St Catherine's, though I might be wrong. It looked so nice and warm I was dyin to go inside but I knew if I stopped I might not be able to start again so had to keep going.

Got home at 2am, just as my drunk family all started landing in.

Night fuc*in mare!