Thursday, November 01, 2007
Stopp Klingen!
At our old apartment building in Mannheim, we had to educate the little kids in the building about Halloween and the benefits thereof. Apparently, our new neighborhood kids (the whole freaking mess of them) are very savvy about the tradition, perhaps due to this being more of a family neighborhood with plenty of American ex-pats around.As I write, my doorbell is going off (and will proably continue to do so for the rest of the evening) and I have totally given up on schlepping three flights of stairs to answer it, because this year, I am totally unprepared. No candy! I want to say to these kids: "Okay, the next thing you need to know about this American tradition is that if my porch light is off that means no goodies. Move on..." At least they are costumed though. I remember when I lived in England, the Brits just walked around in street clothes ringing doorbells. Lame. That means a penny for you. Another thing I've noticed, when I was answering the door, is that the kids are extremely polite. "Es tut mir leid, ich habe keine fuer dich" I say (Sorry, I don't have anything for you). To which they cheerfully respond: "Kein problem, haben Sie eine schoene Abend noch!" (No problem, have a good evening!).
I am definitely not going to let them in on the other Halloween tradition of rolling a person's house for having no candy!