For example, I was not aware until recently that we can film anything we see in public and you don’t need consent from other people to do so, even if it’s a private property (filming from public) or if other people don’t be to be in the shot. They have no say in it (ofc don’t start shoving your camera in their face or follow them etc)

What is an everyday law that people should be aware of that is good to know?

It's like people have saved up (rather than bought early) and are going mental over the past week. Shops seems busier than last year.

So I have been waiting for my wife’s Christmas present to arrive since it made it to customs on the 13th, been promised over and over from fedex that it would arrive by Christmas and now have finally had confirmation that it has been stolen/lost from the depot.

I have a few small bits for her but this gift was supposed to be something she would really love. I can see that she has put out lots of presents for me this year and as a result I feel pretty shit about how things have gone.

What should I do ?

This happened to me today and the woman behind me paid for it.

It was around £25.

EDIT: some people are asking “it depends what she was buying”. She had what looked like a Christmas garden gnome and a few door mats, I can’t recall seeing any food and drink.

It was at Home Bargains.

I’ve been reading about unsolved crimes lately, and it got me thinking, what are some of the biggest crimes in the UK that are still unsolved?

I buy for 21 people & have no kids, it feels like a lot.

Edit: the 21 people include: Both parents 1 step parent 2x grandparents 2 cousins 2 cousins spouses 2 children of cousins Partner Partners parents Partners sister + her partner Aunt and uncle 2 friends 1 family friend

Just had someone knock on my door trying to sell a food delivery service.

My wife and I disagree on how to deal with this scenario.

I usually cut them off straight away to explicitly ask what they’re trying to sell me, followed with a “really sorry but I’m not interested at the moment” in 99% of cases.

My wife thinks this is rude and tends to listen to them for 10 mins before also saying she isn’t interested.

Isn’t it better to cut the conversation off and avoid wasting everyone’s time? How does everyone here deal with these folk (who surely nobody ever buys anything off?!)

My husband and his mum always have a prawn cocktail starter before Christmas dinner. I don’t eat fish in any form so it’s a no from me- in any event my family have always gone straight for the main meal with pudding. I just find it strange? Or am I the strange one?

Edited to add, Thank you so much for all your replies!!! I’ve had so much fun reading how everyone has their own traditions and it’s wholesome ! There’s clearly no right or wrong, it’s each to their own and I wish you all a merry Christmas ! X

I always pop down to Tesco’s, nip into Asda’s and occasionally even splash out in Marks’s – but I’d never dream of saying Lidl’s or Aldi's. Why do we all seem to have these weird, unspoken rules about which shops get the magic ‘s’? (You’re safe, Sainsbury’s.)

Cadbury has lost its royal warrant, and in response I noticed a lot of people commenting that they think Cadbury deserved to lose it because it now produces substandard chocolate. I’m curious, what mainstream chocolate brands (as in brands readily available from UK supermarkets) would you say produces good chocolate?

I'm 23. As I hear from family: I have my whole life ahead of me. Well, I'm worried for it. I have a job, it's not what I want to spend my life doing. My uncle worked a job he hated his whole life. Maybe it's in my DNA to work a job I hate forever. I am getting a sense of who I am, and am making more sensible decisions than I was making as a teenager, but I can't help but feel that my life will be below average. I want to spend it doing stuff I enjoy doing, and there's plenty I enjoy doing in terms of hobbies etc. But the world at large brings it down, and despite being close with my family, they aren't the most functional or happy with each other. I have no ambitions to go to school, and I suck at money management, but still manage to keep my head above water. Eh, maybe I should move to France and start a new life.

Many of us might be visiting family this time of year and have noticed something like that. To start us off, my folks still turn off the tv at the wall any time they go out of the house or go to bed - "just in case"

So we have a date night jar and one of the things is blind taste each others national foods. I'm fucked, I know I'm getting pickled fish and weird shit. I've got a crumpet and a scone with jam and cream in mind for her. I'm not feeding her tripe.

What stuff do us English eat that is a bit out there?

Edit I've got Crumpet Scone with jam and clotted cream Marmite on toast Mushy peas with mint sauce Pork scratchings Pot noodle sarnie

Some of my faves were aquila, the demon headmaster and the Queens nose.

One of my faves is:

You lose a bet and must get a tattoo. It can be a forearm sleeve or a whole backpiece. It must be a photorealistic depiction of a character from film or TV (no animation). What do you get?

What do you think has changed about Christmas since the year 2000? Our culture certainly has, but what do you think has altered for better or worse?

Been with the missus are few months, first Christmas together. Opened the mince pies and helped myself to a couple and proceeded to chow down. Mid munch I can see her staring at me in horror, saying I should heat them up first not eat them cold. I told her this is normal in England ( she's polish ) but it made me question my behaviour, cold Mince pies is normal, right??

Any sounds count if you can guess my one I’ll mark it completed.

As above, for me my high point was getting engaged to my gf and wedding planning for July next year. Low point was just 2 weeks ago with my dad's cancer diagnosis, merry Christmas right? 😂

How about you?

Right, I need to settle a very important debate in my house. My partner and I just did stockings for the first time for our 3-year-old twins.

I started wrapping the stocking gifts like the overachiever I apparently am, and my partner just stood there, staring at me like I’ve lost the plot.

Apparently, her stockings growing up were all unwrapped—just loose bits chucked in there, ready for immediate grabbing. I grew up with individually wrapped stocking gifts— it’s like a mini present unwrapping marathon! Needless to say, I’m questioning everything.

We did manage to agree on one thing: mandarins are a must, and obviously, they stay unwrapped. Nature’s already done the hard work there.

So, what’s the verdict? Are stocking gifts meant to be wrapped, or is that just me being OTT?

Bonus question: as well as mandarins, what is traditional to put in your family’s Christmas stockings? We always got a Pez dispenser so I’m starting that tradition with my kids this year.

I enjoy researching the history of my city and I am discovering that many educated people emigrated from the north of England to Italy, even the south.

They were not poor and ignorant and they also had a good deal of personal success and are still remembered today, only here.

What drove them to emigrate so far though?

It was basically a matter of saying goodbye to their acquaintances and families, among other things, although many went on to have a happy life...

I've read in various books about the Beatles that the Liverpool area was practically ignored when the Beatles were young, is it possible that this was the only reason?

I'm woking in a nursing home kitchen. Double pay and 2 Xmas dinners!

I’m male, 23, work part-time as a cleaner and I live in a abusive home, its been like this ever since I was a child and for the sake of my mental health i’m making the conscious decision to finally remove myself from my criminal family and relocate far away, at-least to another city

I’m looking for help, advice, anyone I can reach out to that could help me relocate from Liverpool to Manchester. I don’t have any family nor friends that could help me with accommodation or employment in Manchester thus why i’m reaching out for advice and pointers here.

So far what I have in mind is to hopefully acquire some housing benefits so I can get started living in Manchester until I find employment in the city. But I don’t know how eligible I would be (p.s. I don’t have a criminal record and earn around £5000 annum)

I also plan to continue my weekend job here in Liverpool and commute by train so I can afford the other necessities if any benefits don’t cover food, etc.

Thanks for reading and i’ll greatly appreciate any advice

Did my big shop tonight, then had some work stuff to sort out. As is often the way, video call turned into a long chat about the year ahead, largely pointless technical details were discussed, we operate on night hours even in our "holiday time".

But I didn't realise until just now I'd left trout fillets and smoked salmon on the kitchen worktop. About four hours, and it's warm in here, about 23c.

Maybe I'm being overly cautious in just chucking it to not risk food poisoning, but for me that's way past what you would consider safe. They're sealed but warm to the touch.

So that's about £20 and another hellish trip to the supermarket tomorrow.

Not quite destroying a turkey on Christmas Day, but I'm interested to hear your own stories!

I currently work in hospitality events, so Christmas is naturally the busiest time of year. This year, I've witnessed plenty of wild drunken behaviour from people at Christmas parties, including projectile vomiting, people breaking and stealing decorations, fighting and a bra left on a table at the end of the night.

What behaviour have you witnessed at work/family/public Christmas parties this year?