Is there any social value left to trick or treat?
A ten year old stands in my doorway, we've opened the door because we got tired of waiting for the dwarf in the store bought Batman costume to ring the door bell. He grunts something unintelligible thrusts his bag forward, I dump a handful of Butterfingers and KitKats into the opening, he pivots walks down the driveway, Mrs. Cedar yells "Happy Halloween" as he hops aboard his parents golf cart and is whisked to the next house 50 feet away.
There's no cheerful Linus and Lucy chorus of "trick or treat" no exclamation of joy that I just delivered 3 full size Butterfingers into his bag or even a thank you. I might as well been handing out rocks.
Its hard not to reminisce about my childhood, but when I was 10 we went on our own. We ran in a pack of six or seven friends, taking a couples of little brothers if ordered to do so. We RAN from house to house, until our bags where so full we couldn't carry them. At home we traded gum, for sweet tarts, milky ways for snickers, popcorn balls for fire balls.
As kids in the 1970's we learned self reliance, we realized people gave more treats if your were nice, please and thank you were automatic. We enjoyed being outside that one last time before winter set in, screaming loudly in the cool crisp air, our voices carried on the wind like leaves rushing across the pavement.We wore ourselves out. We slept hard and would do it again the next night if we could.
I never once wore a store bought costume, or rented one. Most were simple, some wonderfully elaborate, all pieced together or made from my mothers imagination.
I had to look it up on google to be sure, but fact we covered 4 square miles most years, 100 plus homes. We had favorite targets, Mr and Mrs Turner always gave out huge jaw breakers. We canvased other kids, learned who was giving out silver dollars and who was giving out apples. We avoided the apples, too heavy we would tell out parents.
Today helicopter parents, I guess are need, most have a fear of abduction, child molesters, drunk drivers. X-Ray your candy has apparently been replace by just throwing it away.
Id just don't know what do you think?
4 comments:
It's the new world of entitlement and lack of manners being taught at home. My children's first words were please, thank you, yes maam, no maam, yes sir, and no sir. Sadly these basic principles have been extinct for a long time.
In our neighborhood Halloween is a blast. All of the adults get together in the cul de sac under a lit tent. Everybody brings a dish and whatever they want to drink. We all put our candy into a big barrel. There are very few young kids in our neighborhood, so someone directs them into our section and we give them each a bowl full. So the adults eat and drink. The kids get loads of candy. Its really fun.
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