Imagine celebrating a holiday you've never experienced before.. A man in Canada went viral after he hilariously described learning how to celebrate Christmas for the first time.
Mohammad Hussain was unable to celebrate Ramadan with his Muslim family this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Instead, he tweeted about his first Christmas experiences and quickly went viral!
Hussain is spending the holiday season with his roommates and had eight observations as the holiday approaches. His initial tweet has nearly 350,000 likes on Twitter. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, even responded to Hussain's thread.
Observation 1: Christmas is a part time job that you have from mid-November to the end of December. From the outside looking in, Christmas always seemed pretty simple. I always thought you put up a tree and then gave gifts to family. This is a lie.
Observation 2: People have very strong feelings about their Christmas traditions. If someone is insisting that *certain food* is what you have to eat Christmas morning, because that's their family tradition, DO NOT SUGGEST ALTERNATIVES. They will stab you in the neck.
Observation 3: You can buy yourself a gift but you can't stuff your own stocking. I don't understand this one but I told my roommate I bought stuff for my stocking and they said that's not a thing. I don't care. I bought myself mint chapstick and I will fake surprise.
Observation 4: Your gift budget does not matter. You can set this budget as high as you want but the perfect gift will always be $10 too expensive. There is no winning. Just give up.
Check out the full thread here:
Observation 5: There are two streams of Christmas ornaments. The "fillers" and the "keepers". The fillers are the generic ones. The keepers are meant to be more special and unique. This second stream is stored in your family's reliquary to be one day passed on to the children.
Observation 6: ORNAMENTS ARE EXPENSIVE. That cost me $15.99. That's more than three everything bagels. I am furious. For what it cost, you best believe that I am insisting that it be passed on to my great grandchildren. If they break it I will haunt them.
Observation 7: The religious aspect of Christmas is optional. I really like this one. If I was to suggest having a secular Ramadan to my mother she would have a heart attack. I will however be trying to get my family to do a Secret Santa for Eid. The name's being workshopped.
Observation 8: You need a "menu". Yeah... This one is where they lost me. Last Christmas my family ordered Popeyes and watched a movie. My roommate has an entire menu with wine pairings and desserts planned.
"I’m glad that this story has resonated with so many people and hopefully brought a smile to people in a year we sorely need more smiles," Hussain said in a statement to News 8.
"Lots of people are experiencing the holidays differently and this year more than ever, donations are needed! I would just like to encourage everyone who is in a position to, to donate to their local food bank."
Hussain asked people to consider donating to the Milton Khi Community Salvation Army and the Milton Halal Food Bank from his hometown.