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Arugula Latte

(50,566 posts)
1. Sidenote on Santa belief
Fri Jan 20, 2012, 01:20 PM
Jan 2012

David Sedaris has an absolutely hilarious take on this, as it relates to the Netherlands' version. It's called "Six to Eight Black Men" (a reference to Santa's "helpers" -- formerly known as his slaves).

Excerpt:

...While eight flying reindeer are a hard pill to swallow, our Christmas story remains relatively simple. Santa lives with his wife in a remote polar village and spends one night a year traveling 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 you go to bed. The former bishop from Turkey will be coming along with six to eight black men. They might put some candy in your shoes, they might stuff you in 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."

http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ1202-DEC_SEDARIS#ixzz1k1IEopuk

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