Halloween is meant to be a fun day for children. I remember when I was growing up there were so many kids on the streets that the traffic would be stopped at certain streets in fear of hitting someone!!! We all did stupid things. I remember one memorable Halloween when my brothers and I uprooted rose trees from a neighbors yard and threw them in the front seat of their car!!! They weren't very nice neighbors to start with and when they didn't have any candy.... well! That was the last straw!!!
Yes, many Octobers were spent stealing eggs from my grandmother so we can bury them in the backyard until Halloween day when we would throw them at the houses of those that in our warped little minds deserved it!!! Sounds bad - but hey, it was just once a year. Now, the fear is not rotten eggs or "tricks"... now we fear guns, and violence and being robbed by someone in a Halloween costume. Now we are afraid to let our children out of our sight.
Last night I went to "trick or treat" with my grand daughters and my nieces. There were very few children on the street and those that were were being closely monitored and chaperoned by adults. Every time my nieces or my grand daughter Kaitlynn knocked on someone's door I felt a tug of fear at who would open the door to them and what they would give them. Over protective? Maybe, but I really don't think so. There have been so many instances where drugs have been given to these children. I remember years ago there were people who gave apples for Halloween and put razor blades in them!
And sex offenders? There are so many out there (literally tens of thousands). How can you let your children go out on Halloween without you? I don't know why this realization made me so sad. It just did.
In the same way that our grand children or great grand children will not be able to see so much beauty on this planet, will never be able to appreciate all the animals that will be extinct... the demise of Halloween is just one more stab at innocence.
Oh how I agree my friend. It is so sad that the motto of The X Files has come to be many people's motto:"Trust Noone".It's a sign of our times,unfortunately.One that our children and our children's children will grow up believing.The fact that you feel the need to check your child's candy before they can even eat anything,or that they can't walk a few blocks by themselves to know the delicious fear and independance of doing so,with a few friendsor brothers and sisters, on a dark Halloween night,with leaves rustling underfoot,and a pumpkin moon shining overhead....dark,I said?the fact that Trick or Treating is usually officially OVER in many towns by 7 pm,and that most of it is now done in broad daylight!......heavy sigh.
ReplyDeleteYou're right -- things have definitely changed. But I'm going to say that people weren't so trustworthy back then either. Things were kept quiet. These days it's more out in the open so we're all more careful.
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