SIX TO EIGHT BLACK MEN.

While eight flying reindeer are a hard pill to swallow, our Christmas story remains relatively dull. Santa lives with his wife in a remote polar village and spends one night a year travelling around the world. If you're bad, he leaves you coal. If you're good and live in America, he'll give you just about anything you want. We tell our children to be good and send them off to bed, where they lie awake, anticipating their great bounty. A Dutch parent has a decidedly hairier story to relate, telling his children, "Listen you might want to pack a few of your things together before going to bed. The former bishop of Turkey will be coming tonight with six to eight black men. They might put some candy in your shoes, they might stuff you into a sack and take you to Spain, or they might just pretend to kick you. We don't know for sure, but we want you to be prepared."

Aldus David Sedaris (uit de reisverhalenbundel Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim); wederom een prachtig geval van American meets World. Luister naar het verhaal in RealAudio, uit een uitzending van het onnavolgbare This American Life. Het Sinterklaasverhaal begint om 26:00 en duurt tot 32:07.

via mefi