Last Christmas...

As I mentioned last year in the Bah Humbug Blahgfest I don’t like carol singers who come round to your house.


Last year I opened the door to a youngish boy (maybe 11 or 12 – I’m not very good at guessing ages).

He immediately started to sing. He wasn't the greatest singer in the world but he did give me a montage of various Christmas songs. So I thought ‘oh go on then I’ll give him some money’.

I was further impressed when I told him I was going to close the door (to keep the greyhound in – not a euphemism of any kind!) whilst I went to get some money – and he continued singing.

I handed over some money he said thank you and he went away.

Not five minutes later there was another knock on the door – I opened it to find two boys (probably about 10 or 11) standing there who launched in to a very lack lustre, unenthusiastic version of Jingle Bells (I think it was Jingle Bells and maybe ‘launched’ isn’t the right word).

What they didn’t realise was that I had seen one of them stood in the garden when the previous carol singer had been there. So clearly they were following him waiting to see which houses he was successful at.

I clearly unnerved them a bit when I stepped out of the house and peered up and down the road trying to spot where the other boy had got to.

After about a minute I asked them if they had in fact been with the other lad. Their singing deteriorated further at this point and they began to look nervously at each other out of the corner of their eyes. One boy kept forgetting the words (to Jingle Bells?) and the other was trying to prompt him.

They then went silent and I suggested to them that they perhaps go in to partnership with the other lad to avoid irritating anyone else.

And then I closed the door.

A couple of days later I saw the first carol singer standing outside the local shops singing, with one of those huge plastic Coke bottles to collect money in - an entrepreneur!

The other two weren't with him...