The world was shocked – and rather amused – when it emerged a little girl had been nibbling away for days on an advent calendar intended for cats.
Advent calendar chocolate makes for a tasty ‘breakfast pudding’ during the festive season, making those chilly winter mornings a little bit sweeter.
So imagine the surprise of nine-year-old Alissa from Oswestry when the strange smelling, green-tinged chocolate she had been eating turned out to be yoghurt and catnip treats.
The startled schoolgirl only got wise after getting to door four of the £1.99 advent calendar from B&M Bargains, which tellingly bore the image of iconic cartoon cat Garfield. After she hadn’t eaten the ‘chocolate’ for a few days, her mum started to suspect something was up…
Of course, we have all picked up the wrong thing during a whirlwind dash to the shops; conditioner instead of shampoo, size twelve shoes instead of size six.
And so Alissa’s mum Jessica Evans chose to share the daft yet relatable story on social media, knowing it would make friends chuckle.
Little could she have guessed some of the nasty backlash she would go on to receive, with her newfound viral fame opening her up to some all too predictable abuse from cruel trolls.
In her original, hilarious post on Facebook, 26-year-old Jessica jokingly referred to herself as ‘the worst mother ever’, explaining how she had initially assumed the unusual green colour was due to an apple flavouring.
One particularly condescending troll sneered:
Not the worst [mother] ever, however, if you payed [sic] more attention to your shopping and less towards looking like a real-life Barbie, your kids might have a fighting chance.
Another patronising so-and-so hissed:
Intelligence isn’t big with hair dye types.
Now, having dyed my own hair everything from purple to bright blonde, I don’t really get this insult or indeed what a ‘hair dye type’ is. Although maybe I’m just not intelligent enough…
As reported by the Shropshire Star, Jessica explained:
We haven’t made any money from this story, its intention was a light hearted article to make people laugh in the lead up to Christmas, not to open myself up to abuse (but welcome to the age of the internet).
The calendar does state ‘for cats on the front’ but be honest who reads a calendar that was put on the same shelf as the chocolate ones presumably by a customer, I didn’t pick it up down the cat section and think to myself this will do.
Plenty of people have rushed to offer their support after Jessica started to receive the completely uncalled for online abuse, while thanking her for giving them a hearty laugh.
One person admitted:
Made me giggle. Ive done so much silly stuff when I’ve been in a rush
Ignore the people who can’t see light hearted bants.
Another said:
Jess has three beautiful children, she made a mistake like all mothers do, It’s called life. Jess is a good mum and the kids have a lovely dad too who look after them well, never short of anything so keep your opinions to yourself.
Well said. As long as Alissa is feline fine after her shock, all’s well that ends well!
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via stories@unilad.co.uk
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.