to have shouted at carol singers

[AuroraB]

so, i'm walking home from mil's house in the dark, with ds who is 6 months old and has had a scarily bad cold for the last week (perhaps a touch of the PFB's but hell, i've not seen such a thing before), not much sleeping going on, awful lot of snot, really quite ill etc - i am feeling fraught.

i can see from one end of the long road a group of carol singers baging on my door, they give it a good few bangs, despite there being no lights on, by the time i arrive they have gone around the corner to a different street, hurrah i think, i've missed the latest load of seasonal beggars.

i go in, carefully unpack, ill, sleeping ds, feed dog and BANG BANG BANG, split second passes BANG BANG BANG again and thrice BANG BANG BANG, dog goes mental (as dogs do, she can only take one or two bang bangs) ds starts screaming (as ds's do when rudely awakened by mental dog), i open door and venomously spit out 'please stop banging on my door i have a mental dog and a sleeping baby' and slam door in carol singers sweet, innocent, seasonal goodwill wishing faces.

now i'm consumed with guilt that i have scared kids and put them off xmas, but a bit of me does think they shouldn't be out banging on strangers doors at 8 in the evening and effectively asking for money. am i a grinch? was I UR? (oh and i didn't have any money anyway and i don't think a tangerine was what they were after)

YANBU banging on your door a second time round in those kind of circumstances. They banged on your door the first time nobody in so whey do they have to come back and do it again.

I shouted at the kids who "sang a carol" today too. Its the same kids who want a penny pound for the guy and money on halloween.

YANBU.

Nothing worse than people randomly waking your child. Anyone wakes mine (who's now 2.3) and they're toast.

We had carol singers for the first time ever last week, they were cheerful and they actually sang more then two desultory lines!
However the door knocking would have turned me into a fire breathing demon, knock ONCE and if nobody answers they are either out, busy or deliberately ignoring you!
Bloody UPS guy did that to me last week too... First time I've been alone in the house (no DH or DDs) in literally months. Bubble bath, cold beer, good book...
BANG BANG BANG
BANG BANG BANG
BANG BANG BANG
The dog is practically frothing at the mouth like Cujo at this point. Turns out it was a parcel that I was told was coming the next bloody day. The UPS man just wanted it off his van! (it was an oversized mans mountain bike).
UPS guy was utterly impervious to the rage radiating off me in waves through the bubbles still sliding off my wet skin. He cheerily gave me the massive parcel and went on his merry way.

3 knocks? are they out of their mind?

I hide, Christmas carols grate on me, so I wouldn't pay someone to sing them to me!

Living in a top floor flat tends to help stpo them though

nannynobnobs, I think it's the same guy - I think mine said to me chirpily "ooh you look a bit stressed"!

StealthPB and nannynobnobs - surely you could be putting your rabid-looking dogs to better use in these situations?

We saw them at the end of our street on our way home and thought we'd got away with it too but no.

They had also changed their technique by the time they got to us. They were asking if they could sing, but then changed to just bursting into song when the door was opened. H had to interrupt their 'Jingle Bells' to tell them to go away. I guess most people had said no down the street!

YANBU

I don't think Jingle Bells counts as a carol does it?

Reality I'm planning on turning into that old lady. I plan to have loads of cats and a very witchy looking house. I want children to dare each other to run past...

"Reality I'm planning on turning into that old lady. I plan to have loads of cats and a very witchy looking house. I want children to dare each other to run past... "

That's always been my plan!

If they were collecting for charity (and had a license to prove it)- YABU. If they were squawking a few verses and begging for money. YANBU.

But I do thing 8 oclock is actually quite late for carol singing- especially if they were only kids.

I had "carol singers come round one year - 2 teenage boys wearing football shirts, one actually bouncing a football while singing, who sang 3 lines of jingle bells. I didn't give them any moncey as they didn't deserve it imho and I didn't have any change anyway. they later came back and threw the football against my front door! Luckily no ds then so just me to frighten!
YANBU - 8pm is much too late to be banging on people's doors, not that they should be banging anyway! why would you try to hammer someone's door down just to sing some carols?? and also, I thought carol singers traditionally just sang outside your door and you come out to give them mince pies or the like, not bang on the door demanding that you endure listen to them.
ahem, rant over, apologies. i really do love christmas, honest!

I understand how you feel! One year I had no money and gave carol singers mince pies, they weren't happy. Now I just put a note in my door saying "sorry no carol singers". Although its not just them who knock more than once our local takeaway tends to knock, ring door bell, then knock again and I have asked many times for them not too!

No, YANBU.

We had one last night, a single young girl. Didn't ask us whether we wanted a carol sung to us, just started. She got half way through then DH a finally managed to get a word in telling her we don't do 'carol singers' and bye bye. But then he IS the grinch.

I am a church goer and have been carol singing in the past, but never banging on doors, just out in the streets of the village and if people come out to listen and wish to donate it goes to our nominated charity, and we use it to publicise our service times etc......I don't really see kids carolling and expecting cash as any different to Trk or Trters at halloween or penny for the guy - basically begging

and all we ever got at our door was a line of we wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year, then hands out!!

I don't get carol singing. Are they meant to be a form of entertainment FFS? Six small people tunelessly warbling before petering out at the end of the third line. YANBU. If I want to be disturbed by annoying people I can just work late

You're lucky to get six people wmmc. DH got a bloke and his daughter the other night when I was trying to put DS to bed. I mean, if we wanted two people to sing carols, we could do it ourselves .

PeedOff - the way you describe having done it is what I regard as "proper" carol singers.

One of the joys of being very rural is that the lone ranger carol singers get eaten by the river trolls before they get into the village

Totally sympathise. The local Lions come round blaring their awful recorded music shortly after the kids are tucked up in bed - why can't they come round earlier rather than waking up the children just after I've got them settled?

It's shotgun through the letterbox time round my house. I am the Grinch on crack.

YANBU

tiredandgrumpy they do the same in my town. I wasn't impressed. And it was only December 6th.

Hmm, I'm a new reader, much intrigued by hilarious messages posed in reply to initial post. Grinch? Nah, perfectly reasonable. Begging is an outrage and should be stamped on from a great height. Waking the dogs? Equally unforgiveable. You go girl. Unwanted callers are as outrageous as window cleaners deliberately calling before they are due in order to elicit the Christmas guilt bonus they inevitably get. Bah humbug... hate them all.... where's my wine??? fgrin

tiredandgrumpy - the reason they come so late to you is we complained so they do us first and you are at the end of the queue