The "People"

I was talking to my mother tonight and reminiscing about Christmases past. I remember playing kiddles and flatsies with my sister in her room one night and my mother coming in and warning us about the "People" and that we would have to turn off the lights and hide. Now, I rarely played anything with my sister, because I often drove her crazy and either I or an object would come flying out of whichever room that we chose to play in. When we neared Christmas, however, we tended to get along better and this is probably the reason that we were together on this particular night. The "People" only came through our neighborhood for three years, but for me I don't recall anything approaching that excitement.

The "People" were a group of choraliers that may or may not have been affiliated with a church of some kind. They had loud speakers mounted to their cars or vans and drove through the streets of our neighborhood with Christmas carols blaring. According to my mother, she opened the door to them one year and they had wads of bills in their hands and were asking for even more. She thought it strange and closed the door to them. The next year, she was ready and when she heard the music she gathered up Tammie and I and we hid in the dark. We sat quietly as the music became louder and louder and the headlights drove up to our house. Suddenly, there was a loud bang at the door and several rings of the doorbell. The tension was excrutiating, as we waited for these intruders to give up and head off down the street. Eventually, we heard some loud voices and the stomping of feet and they were gone.

The next year they returned again and we resumed our tactic of hiding in the dark. This time my father was coming home with a Christmas tree and we feared for his safety. Dad drove up just as the faux choraliers were approaching our front door. He started to pull up the driveway, but then he noticed that they were the infamous "People". He threw the car into reverse and hurriedly backed down the street and drove around the block until they were gone. As odd as this all seems, Tammie and I so looked forward to the return of these strangers. In fact, sometimes, I would plead with my mother to reenact this excitement and play the "People are coming" with Tammie and me. Unfortunately for us, they only came by those three years.

Joy to the World! (A favorite of the "People")