I have a relative who was into embroidery. She used to give me her embroidered paintings and I would stack them in the closet. But before she came, I always took them out and put them in a prominent place, so she was not offended.
When she got over her embroidery, she began to shower me with her preserves. I tried to hint that we are not going to pickles, but a categorical “no” to squeeze out of myself could not.
She came to me with a dozen different rolled up “gifts of nature. Ajika, cucumbers, tomatoes. The most interesting thing was that the jars were not hermetically sealed, but just covered with kapron lids. In general, I got mad and told her off. As much as she wouldn’t say anything, I repeated it a hundred times: “We don’t need it. We don’t eat!”
Canning is not common in our family. Over the years, I have never closed a single jar. Besides, my aunt’s cooking techniques were obviously flawed – there was an unpleasant smell.
She asked me to put them in the fridge, but I repeated that I did not need pickles. I openly said that I did not like the smell or taste. My relative pursed her lips and left with the jars.
On the one hand, my conscience tormented me that I had acted a little rudely. On the other hand, why would I make jars on an industrial scale, play the victim, and then hand out the jars to everyone? What was her goal?
Just an hour later, my sister-in-law called me and told me that her aunt was asking to visit her. I immediately told her why she decided to visit – she wants to sell the cans. She said she would hold the line and beat the truth from the doorstep. That’s how we were disliked by all the relatives.
After a while, she got over it. She no longer resents us, and she does not force us to take gifts. We visited her several times and she visited us. She realized that my “no” is categorical, so she does not use my good-naturedness. Now I take less of everything in my head, or not enough nerve cells for all.
