I opened the door to see a boy of about 9 or 10 standing there, holding out an (empty) bucket expectantly and saying "Merry Christmas" in a sullen tone of voice. An older teenage girl standing at the end of the drive called out to him "You have to sing, you know! Sing Jingle Bells or something!" He stuck out his lower lip and said "Awwww, no!" and looked at me expectantly again. I said "Nope, sorry, you're going to have to sing!" (trying to be jokey) at which point he turned round with his back to me, hid around the side of the house and SAID (not SUNG) "jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh" then reappeared at the door and held out the bucket. At this point I decided I would just give him 10p or something to minimise the amount of time I was stood there with the door open letting all the cold air in, so I told him to hang on and got my purse. When I got to the door I discovered I only had £1 and £2 coins in my purse. Against my better judgement I put a £1 in his bucket, which he looked at, made a snooty face as if to say "that's all?!" and walked off. As he walked off the woman/girl said "That's a good boy. Now let's go to the next house."
!!??!! I am so steamed. If I had had more time and not had M crying for a nap upstairs I would have gone after him and forced the little brat to say thank you or give it back. Also if I'd realised I didn;t have any small change I'd have got him a couple of cookies or something instead (hah, I would have loved to see his reaction to THAT!) It might have been cute if he'd been 3 or 4 years old but at that age? I think not.
I have nothing against legitimate carol singers, *especially* if they are collecting for charity but even if they are just out to make a bit of cash. But this really got my goat.
Grrr. I'm annoyed now.
