Sit down and let granny tell you a little story. When I was a young'un, back in the days of the dinosaur, we used to make our own costumes. We'd then go door to door in our own neighborhood (this was before the razorblade-in-the-apple scare), and the neighbors would try and guess who we were (this was back in the days when masks weren't considered safety hazards that cut down your peripheral vision). Surprisingly, our neighbors actually knew the kids in the neighborhood, and could make a fair guess. By the time you were in fifth or sixth grade, you graduated from trick-or-treat night (this means you didn't go out for the once-a-year candy grab).
Flash forward to last year. Well past the due date for trick-or-treating, I get to hand out candy. I dress the young ones in hideously overpriced costumes with no masks and dad takes them out. I know about 5 of 60 kids that come to our door over the next two hours. None of them introduce themselves. Few bother to say thank-you. Then we get the teenagers who don't even bother to dress up and just come for the candy. I harass them a bit but still give out the candy. They respond by trying to steal our pumpkins (guess they didn't like the harassment). Thankfully, hubby (who thinks Jerome Bettis is a wee little man) is home and chases them off. Happy Halloween, huh?
I'm sorry, but I think there should be rules for Halloween - the first of which is if you don't know the name of the people you are visiting, you shouldn't go to that house. Barring that, you should at least live within a 1 mile radius of the place. If you don't say thank-you, you should be required to return the candy immediately (as a side note, my husband mentioned he got a ton of comments on how nice it was to hear thank-yous - our kids have been civilized at least that much ... in fact, the younger girl thought they were going out visiting - she wanted to pet everyone's dogs and carry on conversations with the people). And this is the biggie - if you are old enough to drive, you are too old to go trick or treating. 'nuff said.
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5 comments:
I was house-sitting last year and ended up handing out loads to teenagers as well as little kids...
On the plus side, I was also dog sitting and the sight of a snarling Staffy who was trying to protect her Mommy was enough to make the teenagers remember their manners... I kept her indoors when the little 'uns came round...
Heh... PERFECT!!! I have to say that you've outlined a number of my pet peeves too. Granted, I haven't had trick-or-treaters at my place for years because I have lived in apartment complexes with gated entry... but still!
Halloween costumes should be CREATIVE too... what's with wearing jeans and a t-shirt and saying you're "the guy from Cold Play"???
THANK YOU's should ALWAYS be said... ALWAYS!
And yeah, if they're not your neighbors or you don't know them... don't go there. Not only is it rude, but it's dangerous!!!
Snot nosed kids anyway... =s =P~
agree on the age thing- it's a little weird. but you know what? if you ARE driving and decide to go trick or treating, i will never mind as long as your costume does not consist of a wig. if you have an actual costume on and you put time in, then candy you shall have.
thank you's are a big thing- i always said it, i like hearing it. if i'm freezing my ass off to hand it out, then you damn well need to show some gratitude.
so what are your kids being this year?
Snow White and Sleeping Beauty - we spent too much money on the costumes so as long as they can squeeze into them, that's what they'll be. Yeah, I'm that cheap.
that's a solid plan, those are solid costume ideas. and hey, i saw a kid dressed as alf a couple of years ago, so clearly, costume recycling is doing well.
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