PARIS: Whether it’s drug dealers shooting at Santa in Rio, a father selling off a present to punish his son in Canada, or Manila authorities banning carols, Scrooge would have a field day this Christmas.
The legendary miser’s unseasonal spirit lived on in the form of suspected drug dealers in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro, who fired gunshots at a helicopter flying Santa Claus into a slum to deliver presents to poor children.
Police said no one was injured in the shooting which they blamed on warring drug traffickers, but at least two bullet holes were found on the helicopter.
Fortunately, after the pilot fled back to the heliport, the man dressed as Santa hopped into a car to head back to the Baixa do Sapateiro favela, or slum neighbourhood, for the Christmas party.
Meanwhile, a dad in Montreal, Canada, spent weeks searching for the perfect present for his son, only to sell it on online auction site eBay after finding the 15-year-old smoking a joint with a couple of friends.
The school teacher spent two weeks searching for the Guitar Hero III video game for the Nintendo Wii console.
“So I was so relieved in that I had finally got the Holy Grail of Christmas presents pretty much just in the nick of time. I couldn’t wait to spread the jubilance to my son,” he wrote on the eBay website. “Then, yesterday, I came home from work early and what do I find? My innocent little boy smoking pot in the back yard with two of his delinquent friends.”
The man, who kept his identity private, said he sold the $90 video game to punish his son and discourage him from smoking dope – pocketing the $9,100 a buyer paid for it in the process.
Meanwhile in the Philippines, authorities in the capital Manila have banned Christmas carol singers from the streets, apparently for safety reasons, and warned they would round up any who flouted the new rule.
“The plan, controversial as it might be, is not done out of whim but rather for the safety of the children and the motorists,” said Bayani Fernando, who chairs the city body that oversees traffic and road safety.
Singers, including children from surrounding slums, have been converging on major Manila street intersections, knocking on vehicle windows for cash while carolling.
Last year a child died after being run over by a speeding truck.
Fernando said groups of carol singers would still be able to go from house to house in suburban areas where they would not affect road traffic. “What we are against are those who dart across thoroughfares knocking on vehicle windows to beg for alms since this is a surefire way to get maimed or killed,” he said on radio in response to criticism.
In New Zealand, a gang of drunken Santas ran riot through a Christchurch cinema complex at the weekend, jostling families waiting to see the film Enchanted, ripping posters off the walls and shouting “Ho, f....... ho”, a newspaper reported yesterday.
“At least 50 drunk idiots dressed up like Santa came in through the main door,” said Kate Gorman, 35, who was in the cinema with her two children, aged six and seven. “They were kicking things over, ripping down posters and smashing everything in sight.”
She told the Press that the children asked her, “Are they Santa’s helpers gone crazy?” She told them, “No, they are just idiots.”
The cinema had to be evacuated for about 30 minutes after the drunken crowd left through an emergency door, setting off a fire alarm.
But it was not all “Bah, humbug” this year – the Travelodge hotel chain announced it was offering free accommodation this Christmas to all married couples called Joseph and Mary in Britain, Ireland and Spain.
It said husbands and wives providing proof of their identity would get a night’s stay on the house, but with more home comforts than the humble stable of the Christian Nativity story.
“The phrase ‘no room at the inn’ is something that resonates with us in the hotel business,” said Travelodge operations director Jason Cotta.
The offer, appropriately, runs from Christmas Eve (December 24) to Twelfth Night (January 5, 2008).
In Germany, Santa paid a lightning visit to a children’s home in the German city of Moenchengladbach last week, leaving an envelope containing 1,000 euros ($1,450) and departing with a “Happy Christmas”.
According to staff at the home in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the man rang the bell, handed over his gift, wished all the best over the Christmas period and departed without another word.
The city authorities said the unidentified man had left as quickly as he had come. – AFP/DPA
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