Should we open the door tonight or not?

On an ordinary eleven-eleven, I am never home. I travel to Brabant to celebrate the opening of the carnival season there. Yes, I celebrate carnival. No, I am not ashamed of that. This year is different, so is my eleventh of the eleventh which I usually spend in a pub, and suddenly I worry about children at my door and candy.

I didn't grow up with Saint Martin, because as a little girl I lived in a village on an island where the population couldn't be more Protestant. No knocking on doors or asking for candy. The feast day of one Martin of Tours is celebrated on November 11. Until I started dating my Catholic partner, I had never heard of a name day.

Because of ‘rona, the question is whether it is wise to go door to door and accept all kinds of baked goods and sweets from people. I can already see the headline for next week: ‘Outbreak in Anna Paulowna due to little ones with Saint Martin’. It could happen to you. Now, that's not even my problem yet. The big issue is that I have no candy in the house. I can already see a whole horde of children standing at my door tonight chanting slogans because I once again failed to get something. Actually, I don't have time to stop by Hema this afternoon, but maybe I should take that detour after all. Although I have no idea how much. What do you do when the treats are gone, is the light out?