Happy Horridays, everyone!

I must have been the world's most terrible boy this year... must have been.

And I do not want to get into it.

Other than to say definitively that it will be the worst I ever experienced.

Some of my best horridays were spent in the Ho-Tel... No joke. The 24th here is the BIG one.... And I always volunteered to do the night shifts, because it would be less lonely, and my colleagues had family.

The first year was the pits, because no one warned me beforehand. EVERYTHING closes by late afternoon, and 'Silent Night' takes on a whole new meaning, believe me. And I had an English couple who got stranded due to bad weather and were just famished.

And they drove all the way to the Yugoslavian border and back, and there was nothing, NOTHING open where you could eat. They came back so dejected, hey, it was pitiful, and I was angry. I had dined at my friend's family's house beforehand, and they stuffed a bag with all sorts of oddities.... Tinned sardines, cheeses, cake... as if a famine was breaking out and I wouldn't make it through the night or something like that. The whole mix was totally crazy.

So I said, 'Listen, I got a whole bunch of stuff today, and it's sort of weird, but I will gladly give it to you.' So I went up to the tiny kitchen upstairs, and set up two plates to make it look as appetising as possible, and brought it back down to 'the niche'. 'The niche' was a little sitting place in back of the reception area, with a small table before it.

And I said, 'I'm sorry, but it is all I have.'

And went back to my desk.

When they were finished, I went to take the plates and everything away to bring them back to the kitchen.

And this woman said, 'You know, we have always had a poor opinion of Americans. I think we are going to have to change that. Thank you.'

And that was the nicest Christmas present I have ever received. It was so paltry, but I didn't have anything else at hand.

And then that reaction... bowled me over. Y'know... people talk about 'diplomacy' and so on and so forth... It doesn't take very much to change people's hearts and minds. It can be something so small, you think it it insignificant, but means much to other people.

I nearly KILLED my colleagues the next day for not having warned me in advance. I'd only been here a month and a half... Even in Salzburg, there were one or three places open... so I assumed.

ÄÄÄÄÄ... wrong...

After that, there were several 'Silent Nights' when I worked, but came prepared. And set up a small buffet in the tee-vee room. It never cost me much, but I made it the best I could. In the 'world according to Ren'... NO ONE was gonna go hungry on Christmas Eve. No one...

It had nothing to do with religion. Evah...

It was about, 'oh, the humanity!'

I'm not hanging this out there to say 'look what I did'. Really not. Yes, I always help people where I can, and no, it is not just on the horridays, but any time of year.

But this day always brings me back to some astonishing things. I think my absolute favorite of all time was when we had 30 guests, and there was enough food. There was a blizzard going on outside. And many of them came down to my work area, with food, and wine, and we talked about gawwd and the world till three a.m. Stranded German truck drivers, a wonderful Turk, the mix was crazy and wonderful.

And we all had one thing in common. Our humanity.

And I think this is what this day should be about.

Tomorrow, I get another ambulance ride to the hospital. Peter finally gave in, and will go. I had to move heaven and earth to get him to agree.

So no, this won't be one of my favorite Christmases....

But am relieved.