Doe de licht uit je* (Part II)
japra | Jan 14, 2010 | Comments 14
And winter lingers on… it feels like we’re living inside a giant deep freezer.
I had an entirely different post in mind today (aka Ask an Expat), but just before I got to my computer to write it, I saw my “old friend” peeking in our door again. You might remember me telling you about him last fall–he was the one who told me to turn the lights off in my house even though I was using them at the time!
Over the months we’ve seen him occasionally. He rides his bike down our street and stops by our house to make sure our lights are off. Usually they are, but if they’re not–like when we were packing up to leave for our trip to Texas–he stands at the door, faced pressed against the glass with his hands cupped around his eyes. That time we rushed into the hallway to turn off the light so as not to have to receive a lecture (in Dutch) that would possibly make us late for our flight.
Since our return last Tuesday, “our friend” has been by our house three or four times at least. Fortunately for us, our lights have been off. But each time he passes by, he glides down the street on his bike, crosses the street to our side, parks his bike in front of our garden gate, and (light blue plastic Albert Heijn grocery bag in hand) shuffles up our walkway to look in our window. If we don’t have our lights on, he stops midway down our walkway, and yanks his left arm up to cock his coat sleeve to check the time. Then he looks left and right down our sidewalk, walks his bike out onto the the bike lane, and rides away. As he rides down the street, he looks at each house to make sure more lights aren’t on. He has stopped at other houses on our block to knock on doors and peek in windows, but lately he seems quite focused on our house.
This Opa (grandpa) is really quite respectable looking. I think he is older than I initially thought. On closer inspection, I think he is probably in his late 70s. His clothes are well tended, he looks well groomed. But for some reason, he seems particularly fond of our house. Who is he? Why is he so concerned with our light usage? Did he have a job during the war making sure people turned their lights out (for safety? to conserve energy?)?
Our energy monitor. He actually makes me feel a bit sad. I hope he’s okay.
*Can any of my Dutch friends tell me if this is right?
About the Author: JaPRA is an expat Texan living in England with her husband (Mr. DJ), their 17-year old daughter (Roxi), and their dog Trudy.
There is only one solution…you must FOLLOW him! You need to get some dirt on him (like maybe he keeps the water running through the night, or he owns a Hummer and drives around aimlessly wasting gas, wears real fur to the opera, or I KNOW!!! He doesn’t recycle). Then you can confront him with it – tell him that you’ll tell everyone on the street if he doesn’t stop bugging you. That’s it. Threaten exposure.
Julia, I actually would like to talk to him, but I think that even if I invited him in for coffee, we would have a big communication issue. Based on our only conversation months ago, I believe he only speaks Dutch! I may ask my neighbors about him though. That is if I ever see any of my neighbours.
I have heard of older people with a particular kind of dementia that makes them believe they are living in an earlier part of their life. Perhaps he’s re-living what must have been a horrifying youth during the war. In Britain, having lights on made you a target for bombing, but I’m not sure if that was true in Holland. Perhaps he’s remembering not having enough to eat and watching people who did from the outside? This is extreme speculating on my part but it might be possible? I agree that it’s somewhat sad. Although of course very annoying for y’all.
Kathy, I think he must have something like that. It’s sad to see him. I also wonder if there is something about our house that draws him. We’ve only had our downstairs lights on twice–once when I was cleaning the hallway after our plumbing work and then early on a winter’s morning when we were getting ready to leave for Houston. Poor guy.
He sounds a bit strange, it’s nice of you to humour him, but you’re entitled to your privacy.
Christine, I’ve thought about putting up curtains, but our door windows are irregularly shaped. I might try putting some up anyway.
Maybe he is trying to catch you in your nightgown – and being the energy police is just his cover. I attract the strange ones myself – but this beats all!
Kim, we’ve had some real characters visit us in our houses in Houston, too. If he’s trying to catch me in something racy, he’ll be waiting a long time, LOL!
Maybe he is neighborhood watch….? Is there a law stating times for lights and not? Cause I would totally think that here in Germany there are rules for everything.
Kathy, as far as I know there isn’t a light curfew here…
The first time you told us about him, I thought he was just being nice and he didn’t want you to waste electricity (as in, your electricity bill would be too high).
I then thought he was being typically Dutch – the kind that thinks that they have a right to give you a lesson on just about anything and I started to get annoyed…
And now …! Or there’s just simply wrong with him, and there are couple of fuses there up in his head not working or he’s a total nuisance!
I would definitely ask your neighbours – see if he’s that annoying to them too, or if he actually has some kind of problem.
I’m like: “What does she mean with: *Can any of my Dutch friends tell me if this is right?…So I scrolled up in search of this *-sign. The title!!?? There’s nothing wrong with the title…well…there is something!! I re-read it again and again…Finaly I saw it. It should be: Doe JE licht uit. For heaven’s sake…I DID NOT…let me repeat…I DID NOT see it the first 4 times.
But this Opa would get on my freaking nerves. Stick a paper on your window with the message: “de lichten zijn al uit, al zijn ze nu nog aan. Fijne dag verder”.
Fijn weekend liefie, XXX
This completely freaks me out.
On the other hand, I’m fine with it.
the grocery sack makes me very curious now. I wonder what the store looks like?
He missed you.
Just found you here through Mondo Beyondo… welcome to Holland! Where we have strange people doing strange things :) (I wouldn’t think to much of it, he sounds like my crazy neighborhood guy who also keeps track of the weirdest things about the rest of us living here.)
And yes, like Carmie said, it should be ‘Doe je licht uit’ (turn off your light) or ‘Doe de lichten uit’ (turn off the lights).