To hate "Christmas carollers"

[PrincessConsuelaTheSecond]

Don't get me wrong - I love the church choir carollers who spread the joy on Christmas Eve. They are brilliant.

But I absolutely hate answering the door to a pair of scroaty looking 12ish year old boys who screech out two lines of a song and then expect money. It really winds me up.

It's happened three times this week and I've had enough.

Am I just a miserable old cunt?!

Ahh I used to love carol singing when I was a kid, in the olden days. Our neighbours were much more full of Christmas joy and cheer than the miserable old bastards are now. That's probably why we haven't had any carol singers for the past few years.... I think I might send my kids out to beg sing tomorrow in an attempt to bring back the "Good Ole Days". Wish me luck. I think I'll need it.

Worra we must be of a similar age as I remember a pack of 10 being around 4 quid

Re the Carol singers , not had any knock here for 2 years . Nothing I have said or done, they just don't seem to go in for it round here.

Trick or Treat however.

What I want to see is a group of rosy-cheeked carollers in Dickensian dress holding lamps while snow falls softly down and singing 'god rest ye merry gentlemen'

What we actually get is a couple of young teenage girls giggling and singing the first few lines of 'we wish you a merry Christmas ' then expectantly waiting for you to give them cash.

I don't mind trick or treat. We are prepared with pumpkins and sweets, and it's a quick exchange. Trick or treat, here's some sweets, thanks, happy Halloween, byee!

The Christmas carollers make me cringe it's so awkward. I wouldn't be prepared or expecting them, the song might go on for far too long, and then they're expecting me to hand over cash. Nope. I don't like them.

Where do the people with carollers live, so I know where to move to? I've never had any and I'd love to, it's such a nice tradition. Even if they sing 2 lines...tots jealous of your scroats and bah humbug to you op :)

I used to be forced to go Christmas caroling as a teen by my mum . Bloody hideous - she is completely tone deaf . It actually was a church group, but a small rural church with a tiny congregation and no choir, and my mother would cajole a motley crew of reluctant Christmas and Easter Christians and their long suffering children to mumble tuneless carol's outside equally long suffering neighbours doors... Mortifying as a teen aware of her own inability to sing -and I didn't get a penny of the proceeds to spend on illicit booze or so much as an illicit chocolate bar

I'd give carol singers pity money if they were bad, but we never get any I love trick or treaters though

Don't seem to get them here...at the risk of outing myself as my battles were known...where we lived previously the local kids bullied my middle son..threw stones at our windows...fired BB guns at our car..you get the picture..but at Christmas would knock on the door croak out 2 lines of We Wish you a Merry Christmas and expect money..I would stare impassively at then..and say..'are you carol singing? Well, sing carols then,'..they would then do 1 line of jingle bells so I would stop them and tell them when they know carols come back...one went away and learnt first verse of Away in a Manger ' I gave him 20p..he looked at it spat 'tight bitch' at me..
On the other hand my DC went carolling and made a fortune as they sang full traditional carols...they were trained choristers.

Carols not carol's obviously... Can't remember anyone actually called Carol being pressganged into the carolling party...

not sure it's the kids' fault they don't know carols - my do have had a 'carol' service 2 years running that included not one single carol. We were treated to a medley of songs about Santa and snow, so unless hey are church goers or have p that intervene you can understand their confusion. That's appalling, fivemoreminutes!

We had one last night, a girl aged about 12, it was quite late, after 9:00pm, she sang Silent Night. DH answered the door then shouted for me. I gave her a quid and said to her "Are you out on your own sweetheart?" She said no, she was with her mum. A woman and several smaller children then waved at me from the shadows and wished me a Merry Christmas!
I was a bit annoyed to be honest, we were halfway through watching In Plain Sight on ITV.

I don't mind trick or treaters so much. I don't necessarily agree with it but my kids like handing the sweets out (Id never hand out money though btw).

The trick or treaters we get (in their hundreds, no exaggeration) are dressed up, extremely polite and happy to accept chocolate. The one time we had two teenagers knock on the door without costumes I sent them on their way!

A few years ago some kids knocked on my mum and dad's door 'singing carols' - by which I mean mumbling two lines of We Wish You A Merry Christmas and looking embarrassed - and asking for money on Christmas Day itself. They were about 11, at most. Who the hell lets their kid do that on Christmas Day?!