In David I Trust

1:39 p.m., Apr. 04, 2003

So yesterday I recommended Six-to-Eight Black Men, a story by David Sedaris that's in large part about St. Nicholas Day in the Netherlands.

Well, the man who is in charge of Dutch operations for my company is in town this week. So my friend Tim and I just had to ask him about Dutch Christmas traditions. He explained that they celebrate St. Nicholas day, remembered St. Nicholas' exact birthday. Then we asked him about St. Nicholas' helpers. It was almost exactly how David Sedaris promised! First he noted that they don't believe in elves, then when we asked about St. Nicholas' helpers, he said "Oh, the black men!" He didn't say there were six-to-eight of them though; instead he noted that their numbers were endless, which Tim and I decided we much preferred.

I think we may have confused our visitor, but he seemed really happy that someone in the company was interested in Dutch culture. He asked us about Christmas and gave us some licorice. It was really cool. I just hope I didn't embarrass him (or myself) or anything.

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