I'd like to propose, for all us heathen who celebrate Halloween, that there be some age limit placed on trick-or-treating.
For example, if you can drive yourself to someone's house to trick-or-treat, you're too old to get candy. If you can purchase your own candy with your own money, you're too old to trick-or-treat. If you take a real date trick-or-treating, well, then you're so pathetic that maybe you could use a free Reese's cup, but you're still too old to be asking for it.
Trick-or-treat is for KIDS. Yes, cute unicorns and fairies. Scary dragons and firemen. Builder Bob and Dora the Explorer. NOT 16-year-olds in an old Scream mask with a pillowcase no matter how polite they may be.
And speaking of pillowcases, how did it become acceptable to beg and hoard candy like this? At the risk of sounding like a fuddy duddy (which I'd like to believe I'm waaaaaay too young to be), when I was a kid --yup, the key fuddy duddy statement-- we didn't trick-or-treat with pillowcases or even grocery bags. We had a cute plastic pumpkin that you could barely fit your fist into which scratched your knuckles and held about seven pieces of candy. When it was full, we went home. Done.
Between the pillowcases and the teenagers, we're raising the expectation of entitlement to new levels.
2 comments:
Amen. Though I don't think it's a new phenomenon.
I quit trick-or-treating around age 11, but I remember older teens coming to the door, even back then. Often, brazenly, sans costume and with, yes, a pillowcase.
They scared me a bit, because I just knew they'd take the "trick" part seriously, if they didn't get candy.
One of the Mikes on 'Mike and Mike in the Morning' (a New York sports talk radio show) said that on Halloween last year he answered the door and there was a late-teenager guy who was not only too old for trick-or-treating but was also talking to someone on his cell phone. Without even saying "trick or treat" he turned around, to allow access to his open backpack, so that Mike cold throw candy into it.
Mike was so incensed that he reached for the first non-candy thing within reach--which happened to be a smoldering cigar butt--and dropped it into the 'pack. The guy went on his merry way, not yet noticing the surprise in store for him.
I thought you might apreciate that story.
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