Alexander's

I hope you enjoyed your Easter Ham and are now stuffed and happily lying amongst the remains of what once was a heap of artfully colored eggs and chocolate snacks.[^1]

Let me start off with an advise that might be specially suited to easter: don't put all your eggs in one basket -- unless of course you are absolutely sure about that basket is well guarded.

I love to watch small children hunting for easter eggs.

• There are those that stand around hoping for help from the grown ups.
• Some search diligently on their own, not resting until they explored every corner, because there might still be some eggs hidden.
• Others watch their friends to identify a pattern in how or where the eggs are hidden and then only search probable places.[^2]
• And finally if a tip is too good all the kids will rush to that place, stumbling over each other and themselves to get to the egg first.

This easter egg-hunt is all about having fun and enjoying time together. Even if you don't find anything there will be many more eggs, chocolate and ham on the table. But while I was sitting in the park the other day I witnessed one more type.

• The kid that stays near the common collection spot and steals the prizes, while the others are busy searching.

I was a bit shocked when I saw this. The fun -- at least for me -- always was finding the eggs and gloating on how well I did. There is so much food you will be eating it for days, even if you couldn't find a single egg. At the end of the week you might even be hoping that no one forces you to eat another (chocolate) egg.

So why steal? Is it so much fun to hurt a friend? Can you enjoy something more if you took it from someone? Is the thrill worth loosing a friend? And finally are grownups the same?

[^1]: the only way to celebrate Easter is with lot's of painted eggs, Reindling and special blessed Easter Ham. [^2]: You can probably guess that I was one of those kids. Maybe not the most gainful method, but very apt to my lazy nature.

We have some great traditions in Kärnten. For example Schappen, where young children are supposed to whip grownups with special twigs to wish them a long an healthy life.[^1] Easter, as the central christian feast,[^2] also comes with many nice traditions of it's own. One of the cooler one's is on Palm Sunday, where the last person to awake gets to be called Palmeserl[^3] and has to live with the shame for the next year.

So today -- on my birthday -- I stood up extra early, to make absolutely sure I was not going to end up as Palmeserl. I even took a photograph of my sleeping brother as evidence, but something didn't feel right. Not only was it all too easy, but the customary call from my mother, to check if we were already up and who was the last one, was also missing. Then it dawned upon me -- today is Easter Sunday, Palm Sunday was a week ago!

Oh well seems like I should not be the one to denounce other people for not obeying traditions, when I myself start to forget them. Sad but true how these little fun customs get lost in favour for more wide spread and profitable events, like Valentines Day or Hallo Ween, that were never a big thing when I was young.

[^1]: The children even get money for this! [^2]: Believe me it's easter, although you get the presents at christmas. [^3]: a derogative therm. "Palm Donkey" would be the literal translation, but there is no English word for it, since it's just a local customs.