Half a year in the same working environment forged a deep friendship among the six of us. We met up regularly after the job attachment. Celebrating Christmas together was one of the highlights of that year. Different backgrounds meant different ways of celebrating the holiday. Poor Sean and Joshua thought celebration meant a movie and a meal together, while the rest of us awaited the exchange of presents eagerly. D-day came when both of them turned up empty-handed and two hours late! Tardiness was one thing that Jane and I abhorred. We kept our anger to ourselves so as not to spoil the festive mood, but our smiles had lost its original intensity. The bomb exploded when revelation time came!
If the day had started out better, there wouldn’t be such a big quarrel. I suppose the unabashed attitude of Sean played a part as well. He wasn’t apologetic for being late and forgetting the gifts. To make matters worse, he was picky about the gifts he received. May was very upset. She put in much effort in preparing her gifts. This was the spark that brought the outburst. Jane chided Sean for the blunders he made and included Joshua in her rantings. Sean remained unrepentant – as was his usual way of handling others’ dissatisfaction of him. Joshua’s expression spoke of remorse, while Peter’s reflected unease and awkwardness. May’s eyes were glistening from hurt. I tried to be the peacemaker: pointing out Sean’s mistakes while pacifying Jane. The day ended badly. Till this day, there’s a rift between Sean and Jane though the rest of us are on talking terms. Would it have turned out differently if the six of us handled that day with other approaches?
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2 comments:
I guess you spoke of the peacemaking line
Different backgrounds meant different ways of celebrating the holiday.
So it is just a matter of time that Sean and Jane will know and accept their differences. They have to talk it out.
Things will not be different if you go back in time to alter it. This is because of the perception of celebration while being brought up as adults. The unhappiness will still be there even if you guys handled in a quiet manner. It is better that you guys spoke about it, but to end off as a drift... that can be changed though!
For example,
"Come on, its christmas and Jesus was crying 2000 years back, and you guys are so noisy quarreling over gifts, then i will buy 3 pacifiers for Sean, Jane, and Jesus!"
then scout for pacifiers together.... it shd make the event a happier one, while letting them realize their differences in festive celebrations. :)
Just my 2 cents of thoughts! aha
As it is Christmas, some people may not celebrate it due to different way of upbringing or religion. Normally before we have a Christmas gathering, we would tell one another that there will be gift exchange or not to avoid any 'accidents' that may happen. Also, you could remind each other not to be late by stating what activities you guys are going to have.
However, since such an issue already happened, the only thing you can do now is try to fix it. Since you are the peacemaker, you could to talk to your friends on what happened.
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