Last week's Trick-or-Treating was different. Because Congress moved Daylight Savings time back to the first Saturday in Novemeber, my son went to a record number of doors in the Sunlight."I got lots of candy more than ever before,'' said nine-year-old Patrick. "It should have been night, because night is cooler going trick-or-treating, and the houses are more lit up. But I probably wouldn't have got as much candy."
Hmm. Despite the fact that Patrick did get tooth paste at one house, the load of his loot may have been due to influences on Capitol Hill. The New York Times City Room Blog says the candy lobby gave an influential push for a rider to the 2005 Engergy Policy Act.
The NYT story on the influences on federal lawmakers to shed more light on Halloween night (child safety was also a legitimate concern) is linked here:
More evidence of your government at work. Just for post-Halloween fun, blog any legislation ideas you have to make Halloween more fun.
Remember many District 204 schools have legislated policy banning all of the Halloween hoopla.
7 comments:
Haha, toothpaste.
But you know what we should ban? Thirty year olds who go trick-or-treating. I don't particularly like to hand out candy to people who are especially older than me. It's creepy. Halloween is fun for kids and of course it can be fun for everyone, but trick-or-treating is meant for kids ...so discouraging them thirty year olds from stealing the candies from the kiddies doesn't sound like a bad idea to me.
What you guys think?
Rebecca's got a good idea, unfortunately something like that sounds like one of those laws that would never be able to be enforced. In fact any new legislation dealing with Halloween would be tough to execute. Halloween is based on tradition, practices that are ingrained in the culture and that most people enjoy. Any attempt to significantly change things with Halloween would be met with considerable opposition, and it would course be impossible to enforce.
While we're at it, let's crack down on gruesome decorations. Sure, you can claim First Amendment rights, but some of the junk I see is downright hideous. Last year, I sometimes walked past one house that had a "Fresh Flesh" stand in front of it, with a werewolf-type manneqin in front wielding a butcher knife while huge red hunks of "flesh" hung from the stand. Here's the rub: It was across the street from my old elementary school! Now, that's just sick.
I agree with Rebecca, by the way. Trick-or-treating is for the little guys.
The whole spirit of Halloween can get pretty ugly. I know of a Neuqua freshman who was trick-or-treating when a couple other older kids (presumably also highschoolers) came up to him and started beating him up. His injuries included crushed fingers (from being stepped on), blows to the head (resulting in an eye completely swollen shut and a possible concussion), and blows to other sensitive areas.
All that for a bag of candy.
James said...
I liked how Halloween was in more light than usual. The younger kids are safely watched by everyone since everyone can see them. My sister got a lot of candy and that means more for me as well. Then when you get the lunitics coming at night everyone as done there trick or treating and they can't be as destructive as they once were. Halloween in more daylight was a good thing.
I imagine that the toothpaste came from a dentist's house. Not something that you'd want on Halloween but a good reminder to brush your teeth after they rot from all the candy you eat. Agreeing with Jeremy, there can't be much legislation that you can pass on the subject of Halloween except for maybe safety issues. Also, going back to what Rebecca was saying about older trick or treaters, anyone older than 17 coming to my doorstep asking for candy I just say to them, "Get off my porch. If you want candy, you can go buy it yourself at the store, especially tomorrow when it goes on sale! That's economics for you, something you should have learned by now."
I was sick on Halloween this year! Oh well lol. Yeah I agree that some decorations are just plain gross and freaky, and it is weird when anyone other than kids (especially people out of high school...) go trick-or-treating. I also agree though that it would never work to try to address either of those issues with legislation.
About Vivi's post, though, maybe that means that we should have more police out on Halloween. I mean I know everyone wants to be home for Halloween, but would it really be impossible to have a couple officers roaming around here and there? That is if such crimes really are that big of a problem. I've never witnessed any nor researched it so I wouldn't know.
Post a Comment