Saturday, December 22, 2007

Six to Eight Black Men

I just thought I should share this timely excerpt from an exceedingly hilarious and sidesplitting book I'm reading by David Sedaris (NPR, This American Life) called Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim:

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 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 going to bed. The former bishop of Turkey will be coming tonight along 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."

This is the reward for living in the Netherlands. As a child you get to hear this story, and as an adult you get to turn around and repeat it. As an added bonus, the government has thrown in legalized drugs and prostitution - so what's not to love about being Dutch?

Oscar finished his story just as we arrived at the station. He was an amiable guy - very good company - but when he offered to wait until my train arrived I begged off, claiming I had some calls to make. Sitting alone in the vast, vibrant terminal, surrounded by thousands of polite, seemingly interesting Dutch people, I couldn't help but feel second-rate. Yes, the Netherlands was a small country, but it had six to eight black men and a really good bedtime story. Being a fairly competitive person, I felt jealous, then bitter. I was edging toward hostile when I remembered the blind hunter tramping off alone into the Michigan forest...

1 Comments:

At 11:40 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas Evan......thanks for sharing the links for the great photographers....love photos,very inspirational ! Happy, Healthy 2008 too......Cheers

Love you
Aunt Kathy

 

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