I saw this first hand.
Back in 1996, Ron and I moved into a neighborhood being bought up by wealthy people. It was an older neighborhood being taken over by wealthy gays and others of money. Across the main 4 lane street from our neighborhood was a large migrant population of hard working poor brown people.
A group from that sort of wealthy people came to tell us that they did not want to give out candy to “those kids” and that the kids in our neighborohood would be having Halloween candy night a day early and asked we keep our lights off and take down our decorations before the other kids could come the next night.
Ron and I were appalled. We were new to the neighborhood, but we were not willing to do what as asked of us. So we did halloween candy night for both nights. While the first prehalloween night had few kids and they had fancy well bought costumes the next night was the joy.
Yes many more kids came the night of Halloween. They were dressed in hand made costumes. They were very polite and happy. They expressed joy over the treats they were given, unlike the kids from the night before. The kids made of our decorations and had fun. It was a longer night but so much more fun.
Ron and I paid a price for making “those kids” happy. We were excluded from neighborhood events; we no longer were invited to functions we had been invited to before. We were not even spoken to by the people who felt some kids did not deserve a fun night of getting a few candies because of their skin color. We really did not care.
Two years later we moved and bought a different home in just as wealthy an area but one much more accepting of people with different backgrounds and skin colors. Many of our much more wealthy neighbors had those backgrounds and skin colors. They accepted us even as we were in the smallest home and clearly did not have their money. The next halloween the streets were well lighted with decorations and every child was welcomed to the people’s doors. We were happy we moved. We lost a lot of equity in the house we had and moved from so quickly, but gained it in a much better class of neightboros. Hugs
I would never have trick or treated except in my own neighbourhood. That thought never crossed my mind. We knew all our neighbours at least a little, and we trusted them to give out safe yummy treats. Even the bitchy ones were nice on Hallowe’en. There were always reports of nasty people in other areas, rotten apples, razor blades, bad candy. But never in our community, which was definitely the poor side of town.
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Hi Rawgod. Sorry for the delay in replying. I only went out for candy only a few times. I was more often forced to do Halloween parties where I was dressed as a girl and later… well you know where it went. Remember my adopting parents moved us into a deep country with few homes and lots of cattle to avoid the child abuse charges against them. So there were few nearby homes. If kids wanted to trick or treat it had to be by car either taken to where a group of homes were or from home to home in the town.
But a couple of times I was taken by other families on trick / treating and it was grand. I loved getting the candy. Some thing I rarely got at home. It was fantastic to eat stuff so rare and so sweet. Of course I had to share it with the adult siblings near or close to near adulthood and the adults that were home but still so much candy was so wonderfully grand. I was in heaven. I did not get candy often. Hugs
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My only request: stop apologizing, there is absolutely no reason to feel bad about replying to a comment. On the internet, things happen when they happen. It does not matter what, or when, or how. I can still find comments on my old post that have been there for years without me noticing. I just answer them as if I just saw them for the first time, because, guess what, I just saw them for the first time. People comment back if they want to, without skipping a beat, like they had just sent the previous comment the day before. Time can stand still on the internet. There is never any rush to reply. You should only feel sorry when you are at fault. If it takes a while to respond, so what? You have health problems, so do we. You are not alone in that!
Please, Scottie, OWN your right to reply when you can. As long as we are still alive, we will understand.
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Hi Rawgod. OK, thank you. Warmest hugs.
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Like all holidays it’s over-hyped for Commercial outfits to make money and for a few knuckles draggers to get away with bad behaviour.
That off of my chest for most kids it is a lot of harmless fun. One of my memories is of a local group coming around and one didn’t have any disguise.
‘Where’s your make-up and costume?’ I asked, in fun.
From the back of the small crowd, her teenage elder sister, a unwillingly conscripted in as escort for the younger group, muttered, well quiet loudly.
‘She doesn’t need any,’
Roger
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Hi Roger. When I became an adult I dressed up for halloween and gave out candy all night. I loved it. Ron and I continued thatwhen we got together. I did it because I remember how special it seemed the couple of times I got to do real halloween treats instead of the trick being on me and I was the treat.
Sadly we moved into a development that doesn’t have children on our side so there are no halloween kids in costumes that come to the door. We do miss it. For the first ten years be bought candy and waited but no one came. So we gave up. Hugs
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Aww there’s a shame Scottie.
The smaller kids giggling around the place in their fancy dresses, saying ‘thank you’ when you hand over candy, and the other ‘thank you’ from the adult ‘riding shotgun’ is the one part that says ‘Community’ to me.
Roger
🌈🙏
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Hi Roger. I agree. I loved handing out the candy. It meant so much to those kids and to see them having fun with friends is a joy that is contagious as it spreads to those around. Hugs
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