Crime Takes Fun Out of Halloween

JSOnline ^ | OCtober 31, 2007 | Eugene Kane

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Local race-baiter checks in...but this time, the Blind Squirrel finds a nut!

[steveo]

Last night, zero kids, all the neighbors say the same. We’ve lived here for almost 30 years and have seen the numbers dwindle. It seemed to have picked up the last twos years or so. Last year we had about 20 kids. Weather was great, but sadly no kids this time.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

We never have Trick-or-Treaters because we live in the boonies and there is a prison nearby, LOL!

Dad commented today that even “in town” he only had two kids show up for treats last night.

And we live in a Cow Town of 6,000 people!

Yep. The MSM and our Publik Skrewels have accomplished their mission in spreading fear far and wide...but for all the wrong reasons.

[keepitreal]

Oh heck, I live in an “affluent” neighborhood and I’d never let my kids trick or treat alone like I used to.

[Bruinator]

Yep you have to watch out for the escaped prisoner with a hook for a hand. :)

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

We had over fifty. Probably would have had more except for the rain.

This is a very stable neighborhood though which I think helps. Everybody knows everybody and who has the best candy. :)

[Dinsdale]

We had about 20 groups of kids.

I give out rolls of toilet paper to the older kids and word apparently got around.

[samp in mo]

Here just outside the city of St. Louis is funny/sad from what I’ve seen, black families who come to more affluent neighborhoods to trick or treat. Candy is candy and their welcome to it, but without that crowd my house and my folk’s house would not get much traffic at all. Trick or treater numbers I suspect are down. Also America sprawls so badly it gets tough on little ones to hump out the distances. A lot of 2-3 bedroom places some times only have a single person living in them and they might just turn the lights off which if you live near that, discourages t&ter’s.

[processing please hold]

We've lived in the same house for almost 12 years now and we got our very first trick-or-treaters last night. We're in the boonies too. We weren't home but our son was and he was blaring Guitar Hero III. He was shocked that someone knocked at our door.

Turns out it was one of my little girls former teacher with her son.

Can't find us if they don't know where to look for us. LOL

[RandallFlagg]

My Sons made out like bandits. Five pounds of candy -EACH!

Of course, we didn’t go in my neighborhood. We drove into the ritzy neighborhoods.

Heh-heh! Daddy’s not dumb!

[AppyPappy]

We collected 200 cans of food for the Food Pantry.

[Deaf Smith]

I had lots of little kids and just a few young teenagers.

One 3 year old girl was a real pro...with one hand she was able to scoop out 10 Hershey bars out of my candy bowl and by-passed the Milkyways.

Big grin on her face.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

When we moved from inner-city Milwaukee in 1970 (Thanks for being a success, Dad, and getting us the h#ll out of there!) to a ‘burb outside of Madistan, my sister and I thought we had moved to the ends of the Earth. We expected to see people on horseback for transportation and a milk cow in every yard.

Our first Halloween out there in Suburbia was very perplexing to us. Kids can Trick-or-Treat at NIGHT? Cool! We promptly got lost two blocks from our new home and luckily an astute Mom told us that we had already been to her house once, and she wasn’t giving us any more candy, LOL!

I was 10, Sis was about 6. We told her we were lost ‘City Kids’ and she showed us the way home. :)

[Aliska]

We had one ruckus about 1-1/2 mi from me, 21-year-old FEMALE arrested for threatening with a knife, bunch of adults got into it and went for knife, pepper spray, baseball bats, right in front of a bunch of little kids trick or treating. The adult female was from a neighborhood where there is a lot of government housing, and the incident in a neighborhood that has gone downhill but still looks pretty good.

I don't know if there were any kids out alone or not. We had a lot, just about ran out of candy which is unusual, I bought a lot.

Disgusting to ruin it for the kids.

[shezza]

Our church had a "controlled event" in the parking lot -- with bouncy air-filled thingies, free pizza and snow cones, prizes, balloons, a professional photographer in a picture-room, and fair-like games. Cars lined the parking lot with decorated trunks and people handed out candy by the bucket-load to costumed children of every shape, size, color, income level. Nearly a thousand children showed up, and parent after parent said they appreciated having a fun yet safe environment for their kids to be kids on Halloween.

This ain't your grandmother's age-of-innocence any more.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

You are EVIL...and just what’s needed in a Parent these days, LOL! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

We’d always hit the apartment complexes, especially if it was cold out. Lots of candy for little effort. :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Nearly a thousand children showed up, and parent after parent said they appreciated having a fun yet safe environment for their kids to be kids on Halloween.”

I’ve volunteered for those same type of activities on New Year’s Eve ‘round here. We’ve been trying to make it more Family Friendly versus the adults going out and just getting plastered. ;)

[firebrand]

A busdriver was telling me yesterday he hates driving on Halloween. Kids throw eggs at the front windows of the bus. Since they can’t be removed with the windshield wipers, the bus goes out of service and that creates passenger mayhem and shortages in the route. Plus it’s dangerous—blocks driver’s vision until he can pull over.

[Kirkwood]

I’m happy to report that my crime-free, predominantly-Republican subdivision had a normal and happy Halloween with dozens of happy, polite, and respectful kids going door-to-door for treats, just like I got to do when I was their age. We just may have the safest neighborhood in all the US.