Should the song The Twelve Days of Christmas ever be greatly expanded, this bizarre tale of holiday mayhem just might come in handy.
Forty drunken Santas rampaged through Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, at the weekend, stealing from stores and assaulting security guards in a protest against the commercialisation of Christmas.
Police said some of the Santas threw beer bottles, one tried to climb the mooring rope of a cruise ship and a security guard was punched. “They came in, said: ‘Merry Christmas’ and helped themselves,” said one shop worker.
According to the story, the police went on to state the obvious that identification problems remain, as it was difficult to ascertain which culprit had done what as all of the Santas were dressed like, well, Santa.
Okay, let’s expand the song. Here’s a portion of the fortieth verse:
On the fortieth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Forty Santas rampaging,
[…]
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree!
Please feel free to fill in the gap.