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Rhymenoserous posted:How the gently caress is a tradition that started in Europe and came to it's current form in England "US cultural imperialism". Your entire country is full of idiots. Because its an American thing, hammered on American TV that Americans love. Its like Christmas 2: America! Fat kids 4eva!
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Oct 21, 2014 04:24
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Tiggum posted:There are some weird parents who insist on setting their kids up for disappointment by letting them go trick or treating. Every story I've heard about it goes the same way "Some weird family came trick or treating last night. We had nothing to give them, obviously." About twenty years ago me and a couple of friends trick or treated one halloween in a small town (500 people max) and yeah people totally didn't expect it but we still got stuff they had in their cupboards like packets of biscuits and bottles of soft drink. Became a bit more common in the following years, people actually put in the effort to dress up and houses stocked lollies to give away. No idea what the scene is where I live now (still australia, different part of the country), haven't ever been door knocked for it, but there is one house down the road that puts up decorations so there must be a token amount of kids going around. Woolworths and so forth always try and make a show of it in the preceding weeks with plastic jackolanterns and lovely costumes but they are almost always still there the day after with heavily reduced price stickers on them. I think it's safe to say that we'd have no idea about the event if it weren't for US TV shows and movies. I can't think of a single instance of halloween being referenced that wasn't in something originating from america. The Treehouse of Horror series alone probably introduced the concept to a large part of the world.
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Oct 21, 2014 04:37
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afterhours posted:In my middle class, low crime, 91.8% white town the population is terrified of their children getting kidnapped and raped during Halloween. So our mall has a trick-or-treat street. This is cruelty to children. And retail workers. Sounds awful for the parents, too. But... if the parents are all with the kids at the mall, can the parents not accompany their kids out on the streets, too? Or are the parents worried about getting kidnapped and raped themselves? If they're so worried about kidnap and rape, couldn't they pool some money to hire an extra cop or two to patrol the town during trick or treating? It just seems like there are so many better options to make a safe, fun environment for trick or treating that don't crush your children's spirits. My hometown was pretty awesome for trick or treating. On the main street, there was this huge old Victorian that the owners decked out for Halloween every year, like haunted house mazes on the front lawn, all sorts of sideshows, live music, the local school teachers as witches, it was insane. The Episcopal church did a haunted church scene for a few years, with a creepy funeral setup in the nave with an actress playing a corpse bride - it was awesome, and terrifying when I was five years old. Since the main drag was so mobbed, the loot sucked, but if you got onto side streets, getting was good. Our house was up on a hill and had a long driveway and a million steps, but whenever someone braved the walk up, I always tried to reward them well, with generous amounts of candy and other random stuff, like cans of soda, juice boxes, instant oatmeal packets (which went over surprisingly well - I think it was just the sheer novelty, though). The soft drinks were especially appreciated because kids get thirsty running around town and no one thinks to bring water with them. The neighborhood where I live now is safe, pretty affluent, and generally a good trick or treating neighborhood, EXCEPT two streets that cut through it, which is where I live with the college kids and other poors. Like, a block off either side of these streets? Full of kids, but no one bothers with my street. They cross it all the time to get to the good territory on either side, but do not trick or treat on it (probably because college Halloween parties and lazy college kids not bothering to put out candy, or eating it themselves). Despite seeing tons of kids and decorations in the neighborhood, we get maybe three trick or treaters. Lame. Had to eat all the KitKats myself.
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Oct 21, 2014 15:34
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Wouldn't "American cultural imperialism" kind of imply that America is deliberately attempting to convert Australia to Halloween culture and annex it to our Halloween Empire? Maybe I'm going to the wrong meetings, but I don't think there are actually very many Americans who really care whether or not you guys celebrate it.
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Oct 21, 2014 15:39
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Go to the Halloween parade. I remember the last time it fell on a Friday. You don't want to miss it.
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Oct 22, 2014 02:36
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Basebf555 posted:The last year I did it I was either 14 or 15, and within ten minutes I knew it had to be my last year. Something had changed and I felt like an rear end in a top hat all the sudden, nobody had to tell me. 7th grade was the last year I went out, after that I started having friends over for pizza, movies and shenanigans once it was dark enough. I have to agree that you can just tell when it is your last year for getting candy from strangers.
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Oct 22, 2014 03:58
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Phaxtor posted:7th grade was the last year I went out, after that I started having friends over for pizza, movies and shenanigans once it was dark enough. I have to agree that you can just tell when it is your last year for getting candy from strangers. This is not an acceptable circumstance, please stop doing it once you are a teen who can get beer.
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Oct 22, 2014 04:04
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Phaxtor posted:7th grade was the last year I went out, after that I started having friends over for pizza, movies and shenanigans once it was dark enough. I have to agree that you can just tell when it is your last year for getting candy from strangers. I was in the same boat, at a certain point you just kind of hit that point where you start to realize that you're too old to be doing childish things. Then we started to have sleepover nights where we would watch horror movies. Then you become an adult, and Halloween becomes one of those holidays where you're kind of expected to dress up and drink. It's kind of like a wedding reception where nobody gets married. And you can dress up like Ash from the Evil Dead movies or Homer Simpson. If you feel an urge to give out candy, I would advise against giving out that black and orange taffy in the bargain bin, because that stuff tastes like granulated rear end. That's the kind of poo poo that would get your house TP'd and your car soaped and oreo'd back when I was growing up. thrakkorzog fucked around with this message at 07:47 on Oct 23, 2014 |
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Oct 23, 2014 06:20
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Anne Whateley posted:You're in New York, this is your first Halloween, it's a Friday. Please do not sit at home alone or even wander around your building's halls alone. That is extremely weird and you shouldn't admit it to anyone. Please find some kind of costume, go to the Village parade, get trashed, and do things you regret. That is absolutely appropriate etiquette (and acceptable water-cooler conversation). Do this thing. Halloween parties are the poo poo. Make sure you do have a costume tho.
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Oct 23, 2014 06:38
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Phaxtor posted:7th grade was the last year I went out, after that I started having friends over for pizza, movies and shenanigans once it was dark enough. I have to agree that you can just tell when it is your last year for getting candy from strangers. Yeah pretty much. All those people who said they trick or treated past that age and didn't feel weird about it are super weird and probably shouldn't be near children or anything that isn't a cat. Also, as other people have said, don't dress up and walk around with candy that is super weird. Hand out candy from your house, or go to the parade, it's NYC on a Friday night OJ Halloween. If you're usually a goofy neckbeard, then use this night to go pretend not to be one for one night.
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Oct 23, 2014 10:33
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If you live in an relatively childless apartment building in a large city don't expect trick-or-treaters, unless you have a doorman or the entire building is cool with leaving the front door propped open so that the lock won't catch. Don't expect anyone to be down with that. No one appreciates a bum sleeping in the stairwell*. *well maybe the bum appreciates it.
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Oct 23, 2014 16:43
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mysterious frankie posted:If you live in an relatively childless apartment building in a large city don't expect trick-or-treaters, unless you have a doorman or the entire building is cool with leaving the front door propped open so that the lock won't catch. Yeah, in my building I don't think you could even get to other floors as a resident, much less as a visitor.
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Oct 23, 2014 17:22
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Authentic You posted:This is cruelty to children. And retail workers. Sounds awful for the parents, too. But... if the parents are all with the kids at the mall, can the parents not accompany their kids out on the streets, too? Or are the parents worried about getting kidnapped and raped themselves? If they're so worried about kidnap and rape, couldn't they pool some money to hire an extra cop or two to patrol the town during trick or treating? It just seems like there are so many better options to make a safe, fun environment for trick or treating that don't crush your children's spirits. Most of the places I've heard of that have embraced trick or treat at the mall tend to be pretty rural, where it might be half a mile from one house to the next, so having trick or treat at a central location kind of makes sense. When you consider that letting kids trick or treat in their own neighborhood involves walking around at night on rural roads with no streetlights and no sidewalks, it kind of starts to seem less like paranoia, and more like an actual legit safety concern. Even if nobody is contaminating candy, some people do hit kids with their cars by accident. thrakkorzog fucked around with this message at 09:55 on Oct 24, 2014 |
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Oct 24, 2014 09:49
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My area is pretty rural so all the kids out in the county come to town for trick or treating. Growing up we did the same thing; never had a soul come to our house but there would be mobs of kids in town hitting up all the streets where old people live. The towns nearby usually stagger which day is designated "candy day" (ostensibly for weather concerns or to avoid conflict with high school football) and people will drive their kids around to different towns for like 3 nights of trick or treating. Some of the churches and community centers have also started doing "trunk or treat" events where people just set up in the parking lot and hand out candy from their cars, so the rural kids can go to one location instead of being driven from house to house. Kinda like the mall thing but marginally less depressing.
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Oct 25, 2014 17:05
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The best year for trick or treating growing up was when I got invited to go along with one of the farm kids in my class. His mom drove us on a rural route to a few other farm kids' houses, and hoo boy did we get a haul! Instead of the usual one small candy item per house, these places all had full blown goodie bags for the handful of kids that would make it all the way out to their places. Then we hit up the streets in town with the old people. I agree with pretty much everything that was posted above. If you're approaching the age where you can start learning to drive, you're too old for trick or treating. I have seen one exception to this however. My first year away from home, I lived in a neighborhood that was pretty much entirely off-campus student rental housing. Anyone college age that had the balls to show up to our basement suite door trick or treating got a jello shooter. "Trick or drink!" Sadly, in the places I've lived the past 10 years or so, we've seen hardly any kids trick or treating any more. It seems like parents being way paranoid about stranger danger, etc. Nobody is going to poison/abduct your precious snowflake people. We haven't even been able to give away a box of mini chocolate bars. Echeveria posted:It's usually like -15 and snowy here, but Halloween persists. I used to put on a full snowsuit under my costume and go. More than once I bailed on ice and had to pick candy out of the snow. B33rChiller fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Oct 26, 2014 |
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Oct 26, 2014 02:31
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Trunk or Treat was always a church scam around here where you'd get some pissant amount of candy and have to listen to the pastor talk about Jesus for an hour in return. I helped a lady friend in HS with her father's thing and it was boring as poo poo. Felt bad for those kids. It depends on where you live though to be honest. My neighborhood now has like 1-2 kids about the age for trick or treating so I usually just slap a bowl full of candy outside telling the kids to help themselves if someone shows up. The past 6-7 years I've done that I've had most of the bowl left when I retrieved it later at night. It's also easier than having the doorbell constantly ring and dealing with a spoiled poorly trained dog. My house as a kid didn't have a lot of people nearby so one of my parents would drive to the suburbs, dump us off and then come back in a few hours when we were old enough to take care of ourselves. Also agreeing with the fact that if you're old enough to drive, you're too old to trick or treat. Hell, I'd say high school is too old to be out. But if you're in NYC there's gotta be something better for you to do than wander around giving kids candy. If I saw some 20-something handing out candy to random kids on the street I'd probably be skeeved out or call the cops.
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Oct 26, 2014 03:22
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Definitely ask your neighbors what time is usual for local trick-or-treaters. Times vary HUGELY between different areas. I've lived places where the kids were out in the middle of the afternoon, whereas in my hometown things didn't get started until at least 6:30pm. Ask how many kids you might expect to get as well. No point buying a metric ton of candy if only 5 kids stop by. And the best way to let people know you're "halloween friendly" is to carve a pumpkin and place that outside your door. Assuming you live someplace where it's not likely to be stolen in the first five minutes and smashed. This info brought to you by a halloween grump who keeps the lights off and the shades drawn, watching scary movies while ignoring any knocks on the door.
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Oct 26, 2014 08:02
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Stanos posted:Trunk or Treat was always a church scam around here where you'd get some pissant amount of candy and have to listen to the pastor talk about Jesus for an hour in return. I helped a lady friend in HS with her father's thing and it was boring as poo poo. Felt bad for those kids. Trunk or Treat can't be any worse than Hellhouse. For those unfamiliar with it, it's a house of horrors run by Christians, detailing all the horrible things that will happen to you if you don't become a christian. They can actually be pretty dark. As for handing out candy to high schoolers. While normally I'm against it, last year a guy came knocking at the door in a banana costume. His costume was not flattering in any way. It was the kind of costume you would expect to wear if you have a job pointing at things. But he had two slutty nurses following him around. That kid was rocking that costume, so he got some extra Snickers bars for being so pimp. And probably not getting any. thrakkorzog fucked around with this message at 13:52 on Oct 26, 2014 |
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Oct 26, 2014 13:38
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Funktastic posted:Definitely don't give anything that's unwrapped/homemade. I'm not sure if anything's changed since I last went trick-or-treating, but my mom always threw them out unless I got it from someone we actually knew, which tended not to happen. So no open fruit or anything like that. For the most part unless you give something fun like play-doh, the houses that don't give candy/junk food are considered the crap houses. I'd like to reiterate this. Many people are just going to throw out homemade candy and fruit. Americans have obsessed about poisoned halloween candy since the industrial revolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoned_candy_myths.) Anyone who was alive during the 80-90's probably saw a bunch of news stories about the possibility of razor blades in apples, so I would recommend that all candy should be in original wrappers, and don't serve anything that doesn't come in plastic.
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Oct 26, 2014 14:15
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I always thought that was ridiculous and yeah it has been going on since I was a kid (and I'm old). I mean yeah, someone could sneak a razor blade into an apple. But if someone really wanted to maim or kill a bunch of trick or treating kids they could just as easily get a bunch of actually packaged legit candies from a store, and then inject poison into them with a hypodermic needle. The hole would certainly be small enough that most parents wouldn't notice it. In fact the one case cited in that article that does involve blades hidden in candy, it was packaged Pokemon branded candy that already came with the blades in it (because China) Earwicker fucked around with this message at 15:59 on Oct 26, 2014 |
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Oct 26, 2014 15:56
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What if I put up a sign saying I got unwrapped candy only?
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Oct 26, 2014 16:15
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Earwicker posted:I mean yeah, someone could sneak a razor blade into an apple. But if someone really wanted to maim or kill a bunch of trick or treating kids they could just as easily get a bunch of actually packaged legit candies from a store, and then inject poison into them with a hypodermic needle. The hole would certainly be small enough that most parents wouldn't notice it. IIRC it's actually true about the halloween crimes: http://www.snopes.com/horrors/mayhem/needles.asp Never let me down humanity  Back on topic, it depends really on where OP is visiting. I went to a rural upstate NY community during HS and some houses had elaborate decorations which is fun for kids and awkward for the family's own kids who are probably too old for it but one of their parents likes Halloween still. The age limit tends to stop after 13-15 then it's just well, I might as well stay home and watch scary movies w/friends. It gets increasingly odd to see anyone older even in suburbs. I've never seen ToT in NYC account of apartments and private residences. My friend's family gave away 1-2 small mini-candy bars to each person. The best houses when they gave away regular sized candy, small chips. or drinks  Then the worst items were toothbrushes and/or cheap hard candies. I've never seen anyone give away home baked items or fruit. Parents will typically accompany small children and most of the time the person at home worn normal clothes or halloween themed colors. Oh, and some jerks might prank houses for some reason? It never happened where I live but it is a thing. There might be increased police presence too due to the all the related problems w/holidays.
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Oct 26, 2014 16:49
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At least kids have actually died from poison in pixie sticks. My grandma lived near one of those cases. But a razor blade in an apple, how many kids are gonna go 'drat, I got all this candy but what I could really go for is an apple' anyway instead of pitching it or throwing it at a house? It's like popcorn balls, better to hurl at your friends than eat.
Stanos fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Oct 26, 2014 |
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Oct 26, 2014 17:06
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There are loads of scared middle Americans who associate going to the hospital to have a bag of candy x-rayed as a part of the holiday tradition
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Oct 26, 2014 17:31
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Arnold of Soissons posted:There are loads of scared middle Americans who associate going to the hospital to have a bag of candy x-rayed as a part of the holiday tradition ER must be extremely busy. I think if the parents are that worried they can just buy the giant bags of candy from stores and give it to their children instead.
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Oct 26, 2014 17:33
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Stanos posted:At least kids have actually died from poison in pixie sticks. Yeah that case was mentioned in the wikipedia article. The kid was poisoned by his own father, who was trying to claim life insurance money. He did it on Halloween so he could the idea of "poisoned candy from a stranger" as cover.
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Oct 26, 2014 17:34
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halloween is the holiday for getting drunk, carvin' pumpkins, and getting your D wet while in a costume. think you can manage Crocodile Dundee?
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Oct 26, 2014 23:57
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Really though ask your neighbors. My neighborhood now is trick or treat mania with well over 100-200 kids coming by. The one I lived in before was just kids from that street so maybe 20? Had I not asked my neighbors how many they get I don't think I would have had enough candy to last 15 minutes. also don't be this person: quote:Dear Prudence,
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Oct 27, 2014 00:10
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Alder posted:IIRC it's actually true about the halloween crimes: http://www.snopes.com/horrors/mayhem/needles.asp Pretty sure the number of documented cases of people actually handing out poisoned/booby-trapped candy to strangers is zero. All of the very few cases were people intentionally harming their own kid, or harming a kid as some sort of vendetta against the kid's parents.
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Oct 27, 2014 09:15
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Sucrose posted:Pretty sure the number of documented cases of people actually handing out poisoned/booby-trapped candy to strangers is zero. All of the very few cases were people intentionally harming their own kid, or harming a kid as some sort of vendetta against the kid's parents. B-but will that sell the papers?  Although, I agree with you how most of the time it's targeting one specific person vs anyone who shows up at 9PM.
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Oct 27, 2014 14:31
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Be a champ and hand out skittles, jolly ranchers, starbursts, something other than chocolate. Most houses tend to give out chocolate stuff which is a disappointment if you prefer sugary candy.
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Oct 27, 2014 14:50
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Halloween may be a European festival but trick or treating is purely American in origin. It came over to Europe and Aus/NZ for two reasons: a) many cultural representations in popular media led to children thinking it was a thing that happened (or should happen) in their country and b) retailers realising that they could sell candy, costumes, pumpkins etc if they promoted trick or treating. A lot of non-US people (though a diminishing number) object to trick or treating because it is an alien tradition and it encourages children to demand unhealthy food with the threat of petty vandalism. This is just to explain why some people outside the US are not keen on trick or treating, not meant as a derail. E: About "petty vandalism", that was certainly the case when I lived in England and Wales in recent decades and I'm sure doesn't apply universally. So people can feel a bit more threatened about trick or treating than they might do in the US. Josef K. Sourdust fucked around with this message at 15:22 on Oct 27, 2014 |
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Oct 27, 2014 15:15
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Amused to Death posted:Be a champ and hand out skittles, jolly ranchers, starbursts, something other than chocolate. Most houses tend to give out chocolate stuff which is a disappointment if you prefer sugary candy. Skittles and Jolly Ranchers suck rear end, though, so don't hand those out. Starbursts are great. You know what people should hand out more? Bounty Bars. Those things are loving delicious. EDIT: Also, according to Wikipedia, I guess they should start selling them in the US first. Whoops.
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Oct 27, 2014 16:03
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PT6A posted:Skittles and Jolly Ranchers suck rear end, though, so don't hand those out. Starbursts are great. We have something like that, only it's called Mounds and it's dark chocolate instead of milk. There are ones with milk chocolate, but they also have a single almond in them. Those are Almond Joy.
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Oct 27, 2014 16:50
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I got a huge bag of warheads for the kids Viva la sour candy
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Oct 27, 2014 17:01
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starburst is a big gamble, if they hard, you gon' get tricked.
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Oct 27, 2014 17:39
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PT6A posted:Skittles and Jolly Ranchers suck rear end, though, so don't hand those out. Starbursts are great. You have scumbag taste buds
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Oct 27, 2014 18:16
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Tiggum posted:There are some weird parents who insist on setting their kids up for disappointment by letting them go trick or treating. Every story I've heard about it goes the same way "Some weird family came trick or treating last night. We had nothing to give them, obviously." When I lived in Australia at age 3, my parents coordinated with other Canadians and Americans to make sure their kids got to do Halloween stuff. I think the best advice for you is to ask a neighbour when and how many trick or treaters usually show up. EATIN SHRIMP posted:You have scumbag taste buds Bounty is great, don't trick or treat at my house because only the Bounty bars won't have razor blades.
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Oct 27, 2014 19:01
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On the topic of petty vandalism: Where we lived up to when I was 6 years old, the high school students would sell "egg insurance" to the teachers. This was a very very small town with a single junior/senior high school. It was basically a protection racket, where the senior class would promise to come clean a teacher's house if it got egged on halloween. My dad was a teacher, and refused to be shaken down. Every Halloween our house would be covered in eggs. I think they were able to get away with this under the guise of "grad class fundraising" or some other such horseshit.
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Oct 27, 2014 21:29
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B33rChiller posted:On the topic of petty vandalism: Where we lived up to when I was 6 years old, the high school students would sell "egg insurance" to the teachers. This was a very very small town with a single junior/senior high school. It was basically a protection racket, where the senior class would promise to come clean a teacher's house if it got egged on halloween. My dad was a teacher, and refused to be shaken down. Every Halloween our house would be covered in eggs. I think they were able to get away with this under the guise of "grad class fundraising" or some other such horseshit. Is your Dad a moron? After the first time, I'd set myself up in a tree, or in the bushes or something with a hose. Nothing like a blast of cold water hitting you at the end of October to really, really ruin your night.
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Oct 27, 2014 21:39
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