Christmas caroling is considered to be quite old fashioned around these parts, but it was still, (sort of,) a thing when I was younger.

It was not such a thing that I ever considered going Christmas Caroling. Christmas singing was common enough during the holiday season, but not so much caroling.

Nevertheless I did go Christmas caroling, once, as a teenager. One of the more rambunctious members of my crew suggested it one Saturday evening. At first we thought he was kidding, but he reassured us that he was serious.

We shrugged and thought, why not? You only live once. We had a few beers and brought some extra liquor with us to help keep us warm for our walk and started out onto the streets of Berkeley. We Merrily sang Christmas tunes as we walked down the street, and as tradition demanded, we occasionally stopped to sing in front of a house. We belted out Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Silent Night, Little Drummer Boy, and Frosty the Snowman, our enthusiasm for our task making up for perhaps not so much singing ability.

People were appalled. They would pass by us quickly, and give us confused and concerned glances. People were shouting at us from their houses, telling us to keep it down. Many people whose houses we stopped in front of to sing were quite upset. We were told to shut up, to get lost, and some even threatened to call the police.

I may not have mentioned that it was the middle of June when we did this.