[OT] Halloween ettiquette

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

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

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Australia doesn't do Halloween.

Well, didn't.

The local kids have cottoned onto the fact that if they put on stupid
clothes and knock on people's doors, that some suckers will give them
candy.
But, by and large, we still don't celebrate Halloween.

Thus we were quite unprepared for the knock on the door with 5 young kids
(all under 10) with no adult supervisor at 8:45pm last night, doing the
"trick or treat" thing. All I could say is "We don't do Halloween, sorry"
and shut the door.

Since there's alot of folk here who *do* celebrate Halloween, and figuring
that its going to become part of the cultural landscape once major retail
outlets figure out its another excuse to make more cash, I'd like some
Halloween Etiquette advice:

If you aren't celebrating Halloween for whatever reason (religious
objection? mourning the death of aloved one? ), how do you let the kids
know
*not* to knock on the door, or do you just have to pretend not to be home?
You could just pretend not to be home. We would have if we had run out of
candy.

Up to what time can you expect people to knock on your door? Does it go
all
night? or is there some sort of accepted time after which you shouldn't be
disturbed?
My personal preference would be 2:30 PM, but I'm just an old grouch. We
turned off the porch light at 9:00 PM.

If you do answer the door and/or don't give them treats, do you really get
tricked? What sort of trick is likely to happen?
When I was young, it might have been toilet paper in the trees in the yard
or an egg on a house window. Kids today? Who knows?

Would an apple been a good substitute for candy (we later realised we had
a
bag of apples in the fridge)?
In the States, it's not a good idea to give substitutes for
manufacturer-wrapped candy. There have been some sickos who've put razor
blades in apples and/or poisoned homemade (or even store-bought) candy.

What do you do if you've run out of goodies?
We were going to turn off the porch light but didnt' need to.

And do you reward *effort* in costuming with a decent wad of candy and not
reward stupid costumes (putting a plastic cowboy hat on is *not* good
costuming, IMHO) by reducing hte amount of candy? What is the proper
amount
of candy per brat, err, kid anyway?
Depends on how much candy you've got. It was obvious that we weren't going
to get as many as we expected so the last few kids "hit the mother lode" at
our house. We started with two pieces per kid. By 8:00 it was a handful
per kid. By 8:30 it was a double-handful. And we've still got candy left!

We didn't know any of the brats, err, kids that knocked on our door. They
weren't the kids from our street. How far do kids travel to get their
candy,
how many houses do they visit, and should they be knocking on complete
stranger's doors?
Can't help you there. We haven't had a "halloween-aged" kid for 20 years or
so!

And shouldn't an adult be supervising these kids anyway (at 8:45pm)?
IMNSHO, you bet your A$$ there should. Too much crap happens even in
daylight these days. I wouldn't let a kid of mine out alone after dark
until they were at least 16. (make that 18).

Yowie,
Clueless

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Australia doesn't do Halloween.

Well, didn't.

The local kids have cottoned onto the fact that if they put on stupid
clothes and knock on people's doors, that some suckers will give them
candy.
But, by and large, we still don't celebrate Halloween.

Thus we were quite unprepared for the knock on the door with 5 young kids
(all under 10) with no adult supervisor at 8:45pm last night, doing the
"trick or treat" thing. All I could say is "We don't do Halloween, sorry"
and shut the door.

Since there's alot of folk here who *do* celebrate Halloween, and figuring
that its going to become part of the cultural landscape once major retail
outlets figure out its another excuse to make more cash, I'd like some
Halloween Etiquette advice:

If you aren't celebrating Halloween for whatever reason (religious
objection? mourning the death of aloved one? ), how do you let the kids
know
*not* to knock on the door, or do you just have to pretend not to be home?
You could just pretend not to be home. We would have if we had run out of
candy.

Up to what time can you expect people to knock on your door? Does it go
all
night? or is there some sort of accepted time after which you shouldn't be
disturbed?
My personal preference would be 2:30 PM, but I'm just an old grouch. We
turned off the porch light at 9:00 PM.

If you do answer the door and/or don't give them treats, do you really get
tricked? What sort of trick is likely to happen?
When I was young, it might have been toilet paper in the trees in the yard
or an egg on a house window. Kids today? Who knows?

Would an apple been a good substitute for candy (we later realised we had
a
bag of apples in the fridge)?
In the States, it's not a good idea to give substitutes for
manufacturer-wrapped candy. There have been some sickos who've put razor
blades in apples and/or poisoned homemade (or even store-bought) candy.

What do you do if you've run out of goodies?
We were going to turn off the porch light but didnt' need to.

And do you reward *effort* in costuming with a decent wad of candy and not
reward stupid costumes (putting a plastic cowboy hat on is *not* good
costuming, IMHO) by reducing hte amount of candy? What is the proper
amount
of candy per brat, err, kid anyway?
Depends on how much candy you've got. It was obvious that we weren't going
to get as many as we expected so the last few kids "hit the mother lode" at
our house. We started with two pieces per kid. By 8:00 it was a handful
per kid. By 8:30 it was a double-handful. And we've still got candy left!

We didn't know any of the brats, err, kids that knocked on our door. They
weren't the kids from our street. How far do kids travel to get their
candy,
how many houses do they visit, and should they be knocking on complete
stranger's doors?
Can't help you there. We haven't had a "halloween-aged" kid for 20 years or
so!

And shouldn't an adult be supervising these kids anyway (at 8:45pm)?
IMNSHO, you bet your A$$ there should. Too much crap happens even in
daylight these days. I wouldn't let a kid of mine out alone after dark
until they were at least 16. (make that 18).

Yowie,
Clueless

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Australia doesn't do Halloween.

Well, didn't.

The local kids have cottoned onto the fact that if they put on stupid
clothes and knock on people's doors, that some suckers will give them
candy.
But, by and large, we still don't celebrate Halloween.

Thus we were quite unprepared for the knock on the door with 5 young kids
(all under 10) with no adult supervisor at 8:45pm last night, doing the
"trick or treat" thing. All I could say is "We don't do Halloween, sorry"
and shut the door.

Since there's alot of folk here who *do* celebrate Halloween, and figuring
that its going to become part of the cultural landscape once major retail
outlets figure out its another excuse to make more cash, I'd like some
Halloween Etiquette advice:

If you aren't celebrating Halloween for whatever reason (religious
objection? mourning the death of aloved one? ), how do you let the kids
know
*not* to knock on the door, or do you just have to pretend not to be home?
You could just pretend not to be home. We would have if we had run out of
candy.

Up to what time can you expect people to knock on your door? Does it go
all
night? or is there some sort of accepted time after which you shouldn't be
disturbed?
My personal preference would be 2:30 PM, but I'm just an old grouch. We
turned off the porch light at 9:00 PM.

If you do answer the door and/or don't give them treats, do you really get
tricked? What sort of trick is likely to happen?
When I was young, it might have been toilet paper in the trees in the yard
or an egg on a house window. Kids today? Who knows?

Would an apple been a good substitute for candy (we later realised we had
a
bag of apples in the fridge)?
In the States, it's not a good idea to give substitutes for
manufacturer-wrapped candy. There have been some sickos who've put razor
blades in apples and/or poisoned homemade (or even store-bought) candy.

What do you do if you've run out of goodies?
We were going to turn off the porch light but didnt' need to.

And do you reward *effort* in costuming with a decent wad of candy and not
reward stupid costumes (putting a plastic cowboy hat on is *not* good
costuming, IMHO) by reducing hte amount of candy? What is the proper
amount
of candy per brat, err, kid anyway?
Depends on how much candy you've got. It was obvious that we weren't going
to get as many as we expected so the last few kids "hit the mother lode" at
our house. We started with two pieces per kid. By 8:00 it was a handful
per kid. By 8:30 it was a double-handful. And we've still got candy left!

We didn't know any of the brats, err, kids that knocked on our door. They
weren't the kids from our street. How far do kids travel to get their
candy,
how many houses do they visit, and should they be knocking on complete
stranger's doors?
Can't help you there. We haven't had a "halloween-aged" kid for 20 years or
so!

And shouldn't an adult be supervising these kids anyway (at 8:45pm)?
IMNSHO, you bet your A$$ there should. Too much crap happens even in
daylight these days. I wouldn't let a kid of mine out alone after dark
until they were at least 16. (make that 18).

Yowie,
Clueless

Skippy wrote:

Earlier tonight I saw the most interesting thing. A local parish built
themselves a new church which just opened this spring, and for Halloween
they had what they were calling a "trunk or treat". A lot of the church
members, 50 or so loaded up their trucks with candy and Halloween decor
and actually decorated their cars in a huge circle around the parking
lot. One even had the prettiest black oriental shorthair and she was
just convinced that she was the most gorgeous thing out and about that
evening.

Someone brought their cat to this? I'm amazed that a cat would feel
comfortable with all those people and cars everywhere.

Joyce

Skippy wrote:

Earlier tonight I saw the most interesting thing. A local parish built
themselves a new church which just opened this spring, and for Halloween
they had what they were calling a "trunk or treat". A lot of the church
members, 50 or so loaded up their trucks with candy and Halloween decor
and actually decorated their cars in a huge circle around the parking
lot. One even had the prettiest black oriental shorthair and she was
just convinced that she was the most gorgeous thing out and about that
evening.

Someone brought their cat to this? I'm amazed that a cat would feel
comfortable with all those people and cars everywhere.

Joyce

Skippy wrote:

Earlier tonight I saw the most interesting thing. A local parish built
themselves a new church which just opened this spring, and for Halloween
they had what they were calling a "trunk or treat". A lot of the church
members, 50 or so loaded up their trucks with candy and Halloween decor
and actually decorated their cars in a huge circle around the parking
lot. One even had the prettiest black oriental shorthair and she was
just convinced that she was the most gorgeous thing out and about that
evening.

Someone brought their cat to this? I'm amazed that a cat would feel
comfortable with all those people and cars everywhere.

Joyce

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 :-)]

Thank you Seanette. I still go trick-or-treating. I always put a lot
of time and effort into my costume, sometimes taking up to a month or
more of planning, sewing, etc. My daughter used to go with me, but
she's moved to Louisiana, and I thought my trick-or-treating days were
over, but night before last, the neighbor kids invited me to go with
them. As it turns out, there were 8 of us all together, some of them
were fairly young, so I acted as chaperone too. I must have counted
to 7 at least a hundred times that night. G And had my tail stepped
on as many also.

This was our first halloween in this neighborhood, and they do
something interesting here. They call it a candy toss, and at
5:30p.m., 3 or 4 cars/trucks drive slowly down each street (they're
all cul-de-sac or dead end streets) and toss out candy by the hand
fulls to anyone standing out there wearing a costume. I guess it's
just a 'to get you going' thing. I thought it was fun though.

-bonbon


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

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 :-)]

Thank you Seanette. I still go trick-or-treating. I always put a lot
of time and effort into my costume, sometimes taking up to a month or
more of planning, sewing, etc. My daughter used to go with me, but
she's moved to Louisiana, and I thought my trick-or-treating days were
over, but night before last, the neighbor kids invited me to go with
them. As it turns out, there were 8 of us all together, some of them
were fairly young, so I acted as chaperone too. I must have counted
to 7 at least a hundred times that night. G And had my tail stepped
on as many also.

This was our first halloween in this neighborhood, and they do
something interesting here. They call it a candy toss, and at
5:30p.m., 3 or 4 cars/trucks drive slowly down each street (they're
all cul-de-sac or dead end streets) and toss out candy by the hand
fulls to anyone standing out there wearing a costume. I guess it's
just a 'to get you going' thing. I thought it was fun though.

-bonbon


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