[OT] Halloween ettiquette

If the porch lights are out, it usually means no candy. A lit porch
and Halloween decorations means trick or treaters welcome, at least
till the candy runs out, the pumpkins are blown out and the porch
lights go off. We usually start trick-or-treat around 5 and it ends
around 7:30, maybe till 8 if the candy lasts.

Generosity depends on the area. In the country, kids have to have
their parents drive them from farm to farm in the family truck.
There, it is not uncommon for one house to give out a chocolate bar, a
can of pop, a bag of chips AND some gum (because they get only 5-20
trick or treaters a night and the kids only get to go to 10-20
houses). In the city, where you get hundreds, it's one piece of candy
per kid unless you have money to offer two pieces.

I grew up in the country, and my father would only take me to places
of people he knew (neighbours, relatives, people from his church, the
guys at the feed mill, his college friend). One year I went out with
a friend trick-or-treat in town and going to all the strangers' houses
was really weird for me--but her dad was with us at least. I think
it's irresponsible of parents to turn kids out unchaperoned. In our
area, parents go with the kids until the kids hit 10 or so. Also, my
mom never let me eat candy until she inspected it first.

Apples are usually ok, except for the following: 1. Kids prefer candy
and 2. Parents are sometimes wary of unwrapped treats, homemade goods
or even apples. Cans of cola are a better last-minute treat.

No one really plays tricks if they don't get candy. The worst that
happens is you get called a crabby ol' witch (Anyone who wants to
vandalize, smash pumpkins, throw eggs etc, will do it regardless of
candy. These people are out to cause crap, not to get treats.)

I went out for trick or treat once in university with a friend and her
neighbour's kids--yes we were chaperoning, but we were also dressed up
and candy collecting Because we were "too old," lots of people
made us sing silly songs before they'd fork out candy!

(Funny story--the year I went into town, two houses didn't give us
candy. One was an old lady who forgot about Halloween, the second was
a cranky man who cursed and yelled at us to get lost. I wouldn't let
my friend say anything mean about hte lady for her honest mistake, but
we both thought the man should get turned into a frog, for being so
nasty. )

--Fil

If the porch lights are out, it usually means no candy. A lit porch
and Halloween decorations means trick or treaters welcome, at least
till the candy runs out, the pumpkins are blown out and the porch
lights go off. We usually start trick-or-treat around 5 and it ends
around 7:30, maybe till 8 if the candy lasts.

Generosity depends on the area. In the country, kids have to have
their parents drive them from farm to farm in the family truck.
There, it is not uncommon for one house to give out a chocolate bar, a
can of pop, a bag of chips AND some gum (because they get only 5-20
trick or treaters a night and the kids only get to go to 10-20
houses). In the city, where you get hundreds, it's one piece of candy
per kid unless you have money to offer two pieces.

I grew up in the country, and my father would only take me to places
of people he knew (neighbours, relatives, people from his church, the
guys at the feed mill, his college friend). One year I went out with
a friend trick-or-treat in town and going to all the strangers' houses
was really weird for me--but her dad was with us at least. I think
it's irresponsible of parents to turn kids out unchaperoned. In our
area, parents go with the kids until the kids hit 10 or so. Also, my
mom never let me eat candy until she inspected it first.

Apples are usually ok, except for the following: 1. Kids prefer candy
and 2. Parents are sometimes wary of unwrapped treats, homemade goods
or even apples. Cans of cola are a better last-minute treat.

No one really plays tricks if they don't get candy. The worst that
happens is you get called a crabby ol' witch (Anyone who wants to
vandalize, smash pumpkins, throw eggs etc, will do it regardless of
candy. These people are out to cause crap, not to get treats.)

I went out for trick or treat once in university with a friend and her
neighbour's kids--yes we were chaperoning, but we were also dressed up
and candy collecting Because we were "too old," lots of people
made us sing silly songs before they'd fork out candy!

(Funny story--the year I went into town, two houses didn't give us
candy. One was an old lady who forgot about Halloween, the second was
a cranky man who cursed and yelled at us to get lost. I wouldn't let
my friend say anything mean about hte lady for her honest mistake, but
we both thought the man should get turned into a frog, for being so
nasty. )

--Fil

If the porch lights are out, it usually means no candy. A lit porch
and Halloween decorations means trick or treaters welcome, at least
till the candy runs out, the pumpkins are blown out and the porch
lights go off. We usually start trick-or-treat around 5 and it ends
around 7:30, maybe till 8 if the candy lasts.

Generosity depends on the area. In the country, kids have to have
their parents drive them from farm to farm in the family truck.
There, it is not uncommon for one house to give out a chocolate bar, a
can of pop, a bag of chips AND some gum (because they get only 5-20
trick or treaters a night and the kids only get to go to 10-20
houses). In the city, where you get hundreds, it's one piece of candy
per kid unless you have money to offer two pieces.

I grew up in the country, and my father would only take me to places
of people he knew (neighbours, relatives, people from his church, the
guys at the feed mill, his college friend). One year I went out with
a friend trick-or-treat in town and going to all the strangers' houses
was really weird for me--but her dad was with us at least. I think
it's irresponsible of parents to turn kids out unchaperoned. In our
area, parents go with the kids until the kids hit 10 or so. Also, my
mom never let me eat candy until she inspected it first.

Apples are usually ok, except for the following: 1. Kids prefer candy
and 2. Parents are sometimes wary of unwrapped treats, homemade goods
or even apples. Cans of cola are a better last-minute treat.

No one really plays tricks if they don't get candy. The worst that
happens is you get called a crabby ol' witch (Anyone who wants to
vandalize, smash pumpkins, throw eggs etc, will do it regardless of
candy. These people are out to cause crap, not to get treats.)

I went out for trick or treat once in university with a friend and her
neighbour's kids--yes we were chaperoning, but we were also dressed up
and candy collecting Because we were "too old," lots of people
made us sing silly songs before they'd fork out candy!

(Funny story--the year I went into town, two houses didn't give us
candy. One was an old lady who forgot about Halloween, the second was
a cranky man who cursed and yelled at us to get lost. I wouldn't let
my friend say anything mean about hte lady for her honest mistake, but
we both thought the man should get turned into a frog, for being so
nasty. )

--Fil

(Enfilade) had some very interesting
things to say about [OT] Halloween ettiquette:

I went out for trick or treat once in university with a friend and her
neighbour's kids--yes we were chaperoning, but we were also dressed up
and candy collecting Because we were "too old," lots of people
made us sing silly songs before they'd fork out candy!

I would have given you two treats ;-) [I do offer treats to chaperones
of young trick-or-treaters. I figure they deserve some reward for
their time and effort :-)]

I saw NO cute little candy mooches last night [sniffle].

--
"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be
doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding.
:-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL

(Enfilade) had some very interesting
things to say about [OT] Halloween ettiquette:

I went out for trick or treat once in university with a friend and her
neighbour's kids--yes we were chaperoning, but we were also dressed up
and candy collecting Because we were "too old," lots of people
made us sing silly songs before they'd fork out candy!

I would have given you two treats ;-) [I do offer treats to chaperones
of young trick-or-treaters. I figure they deserve some reward for
their time and effort :-)]

I saw NO cute little candy mooches last night [sniffle].

--
"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be
doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding.
:-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL

(Enfilade) had some very interesting
things to say about [OT] Halloween ettiquette:

I went out for trick or treat once in university with a friend and her
neighbour's kids--yes we were chaperoning, but we were also dressed up
and candy collecting Because we were "too old," lots of people
made us sing silly songs before they'd fork out candy!

I would have given you two treats ;-) [I do offer treats to chaperones
of young trick-or-treaters. I figure they deserve some reward for
their time and effort :-)]

I saw NO cute little candy mooches last night [sniffle].

--
"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be
doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding.
:-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL

On 1 Nov 2004 16:25:11 -0800, (Enfilade)
wrote:

snip
was really weird for me--but her dad was with us at least. I think
it's irresponsible of parents to turn kids out unchaperoned. In our
area, parents go with the kids until the kids hit 10 or so. Also, my
mom never let me eat candy until she inspected it first.

I remember when my nieces hit that independent age, when my sister was
no longer welcome. She insisted that they had to have adult
supervision, they insisted that she couldn't be seen with them, so she
ended up waiting just out of sight while they went to the door.

Apples are usually ok, except for the following: 1. Kids prefer candy
and 2. Parents are sometimes wary of unwrapped treats, homemade goods
or even apples. Cans of cola are a better last-minute treat.

The other night, on one of the late night shows, a comedian said when
he ran out of candy last year he started passing out cigarettes. This
year he said he was planning on passing out matches.

snip
(Funny story--the year I went into town, two houses didn't give us
candy. One was an old lady who forgot about Halloween, the second was
a cranky man who cursed and yelled at us to get lost. I wouldn't let
my friend say anything mean about hte lady for her honest mistake, but
we both thought the man should get turned into a frog, for being so
nasty. )

'nother funny story. In Bakersfield, California, when I was growing up
Dad would plant winter grass just before Halloween every year. This
entailed scalping the bermuda, planting rye grass, and spreading a
layer of steer manure over the top of the seed. Working wonders for
keeping the kiddies off the grass, since everyone knew the lawn was
covered in cow sh*t ;-)
--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky (RB)

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On 1 Nov 2004 16:25:11 -0800, (Enfilade)
wrote:

snip
was really weird for me--but her dad was with us at least. I think
it's irresponsible of parents to turn kids out unchaperoned. In our
area, parents go with the kids until the kids hit 10 or so. Also, my
mom never let me eat candy until she inspected it first.

I remember when my nieces hit that independent age, when my sister was
no longer welcome. She insisted that they had to have adult
supervision, they insisted that she couldn't be seen with them, so she
ended up waiting just out of sight while they went to the door.

Apples are usually ok, except for the following: 1. Kids prefer candy
and 2. Parents are sometimes wary of unwrapped treats, homemade goods
or even apples. Cans of cola are a better last-minute treat.

The other night, on one of the late night shows, a comedian said when
he ran out of candy last year he started passing out cigarettes. This
year he said he was planning on passing out matches.

snip
(Funny story--the year I went into town, two houses didn't give us
candy. One was an old lady who forgot about Halloween, the second was
a cranky man who cursed and yelled at us to get lost. I wouldn't let
my friend say anything mean about hte lady for her honest mistake, but
we both thought the man should get turned into a frog, for being so
nasty. )

'nother funny story. In Bakersfield, California, when I was growing up
Dad would plant winter grass just before Halloween every year. This
entailed scalping the bermuda, planting rye grass, and spreading a
layer of steer manure over the top of the seed. Working wonders for
keeping the kiddies off the grass, since everyone knew the lawn was
covered in cow sh*t ;-)
--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky (RB)

[remove Junk for email]
Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html
Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html

On 1 Nov 2004 16:25:11 -0800, (Enfilade)
wrote:

snip
was really weird for me--but her dad was with us at least. I think
it's irresponsible of parents to turn kids out unchaperoned. In our
area, parents go with the kids until the kids hit 10 or so. Also, my
mom never let me eat candy until she inspected it first.

I remember when my nieces hit that independent age, when my sister was
no longer welcome. She insisted that they had to have adult
supervision, they insisted that she couldn't be seen with them, so she
ended up waiting just out of sight while they went to the door.

Apples are usually ok, except for the following: 1. Kids prefer candy
and 2. Parents are sometimes wary of unwrapped treats, homemade goods
or even apples. Cans of cola are a better last-minute treat.

The other night, on one of the late night shows, a comedian said when
he ran out of candy last year he started passing out cigarettes. This
year he said he was planning on passing out matches.

snip
(Funny story--the year I went into town, two houses didn't give us
candy. One was an old lady who forgot about Halloween, the second was
a cranky man who cursed and yelled at us to get lost. I wouldn't let
my friend say anything mean about hte lady for her honest mistake, but
we both thought the man should get turned into a frog, for being so
nasty. )

'nother funny story. In Bakersfield, California, when I was growing up
Dad would plant winter grass just before Halloween every year. This
entailed scalping the bermuda, planting rye grass, and spreading a
layer of steer manure over the top of the seed. Working wonders for
keeping the kiddies off the grass, since everyone knew the lawn was
covered in cow sh*t ;-)
--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky (RB)

[remove Junk for email]
Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html
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On Mon, 01 Nov 2004 16:54:26 -0800, Seanette Blaylock
wrote:

(Enfilade) had some very interesting
things to say about [OT] Halloween ettiquette:

I went out for trick or treat once in university with a friend and her
neighbour's kids--yes we were chaperoning, but we were also dressed up
and candy collecting Because we were "too old," lots of people
made us sing silly songs before they'd fork out candy!

I would have given you two treats ;-) [I do offer treats to chaperones
of young trick-or-treaters. I figure they deserve some reward for
their time and effort :-)]

I saw NO cute little candy mooches last night [sniffle].

I don't think I've seen any since moving into this apartment 7 years
ago. Probably because this complex is all small one bedroom
apartments, and it's rare for any kids to live here.

My parents get LOTS of elementary aged kids every year, probably
because they live across the street from an elementary school (same
school my two brothers, two sisters, and I all went to as kids). Seems
like all the kids know my Dad, since he's usually out puttering around
in the yard as they go to and from school. I imagine it also helps
that they've lived there since the 60s, and some of today's kids are
the third generation of trick or treaters.
--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky (RB)

[remove Junk for email]
Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html
Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html