The holiday season is usually a time that inspires the spirit of giving and compassion, but it’s the opposite for some people living in the northwest community of Bowness.
The Gerl family was shocked when they heard someone at their front door Friday night and discovered a nasty note in their mailbox.
The letter tells them they’ve won the “Humbug award,” and goes on to call them a “Grinch” for their lack of a Christmas light display.
The letter goes on to say they have disappointed all in the community and implies they must have been busy on devices and to do better next time.
The author also suggests lights are inexpensive and can be purchased second-hand.
The letter hit hard for Ray Gerl.
She posted it to social media, saying they are a family of three disabled people — she’s blind, has an older autistic brother and her mother suffers from chronic pain.
Gerl said that with all three on disability, they barely scraped together enough money for a tree, let alone for gifts or décor.
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Her mom, Erin said they’re not in the position to do what the letter asks.
“You know, talk about not knowing what the situation is before acting on it. But they’re welcome to come put Christmas lights up for me if they don’t mind paying the power bill in January. Because I simply am not able to do that. It’s just not possible for my family,” Gerl said.
The family just received notice their rent is going up hundreds of dollars in the new year.
Money aside, Ray said nobody in the family can physically manage a festive display.
“None of us are able to get up there. We don’t even own the ladder to get up there and it’s quite frankly too expensive for the electricity, the lights, etc.”
The Gerls aren’t the only ones to be shamed.
Many others have come forward on a community page, including Linda Berg.
The student is dealing with expenses from just moving in, so money is tight this Christmas.
“I was like, this has got to be a joke. And I had no idea if I should be angry or if I should laugh about it,” Berg said.
In the end, she decided to own her gifted title, creating a sign for her front yard that says, “Beware the Grinch.”
The recipients said that even though they understand the writer may have intended to inspire them, the writer went about it in the wrong way.
“It’s not OK to hurt people like that,” Erin said. “There’s a lot of people suffering at Christmas right now, so I would like them to think about that.”
— with files from Gaby Rios, Global News
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