Reply #65: I was kind of scared of Santa Claus when I was a kid

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

My dad was stationed for 3 years in Germany in the U.S. Air Force and we lived on a giant air base in Bitburg. In elementary school, just before Christmas break they brought in Santa Claus to each class and right with him was a guy called "Black Peter". Santa Claus told the class that Black Peter would cut off their ears, gouge out their eyes, and stick them in a coal sack (the evil-looking guy playing Black Peter actually had a coal sack slung on his back) and that their parents would never see them again if they weren't good little boys and girls. The teacher pointed out a couple of disruptive kids in the class and Black Peter went after them and opened his coal sack. We kids were stricken with fear, as if Freddie Kruger had come to life. It was a bizarre and frightening experience.