<p>I’m just not sure this cursing candy business is working for them. I’ve been eating halloween candy for over 40 years and aside from a few extra pounds, I’ve had an incredibly blessed life. </p>
<p>They really ought to get their act together on this one.</p>
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<p>Absolutely agree Garland. Well said.</p>
<p>I’m very disappointed. I have only had about 8 little demons so far and it is getting late. I usually see many, many more. The weather here is awful - raining, windy - but at least it is warm. It is actually pretty spooky looking out.</p>
<p>Halloween is how we teach our children at an early age the practice of extortion.</p>
<p>Trick or Treat</p>
<p>Your money or your life</p>
<p>$700 billion or the end of the world as we know it.</p>
<p>^ ^ Larry David had a funny bit about that, a friend of mine posted it today on facebook. You could probably find it on youtube.</p>
<p>Annuduhmom… lmao here!! crying… thank you for that… omg!! too funny</p>
<p>I love Larry! “Felony or Treat!!”</p>
<p>We had a group of 7 year old boys gather together and shout “Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!” and then fall all over themselves laughing at the very original and somewhat naughty thing they had said. No way I was going to let them know I had heard it before… in 1965.
I’m happy - seems like a very traditional and tame holiday around here.</p>
<p>Just sent “felony or treat” to everyone I know. =)</p>
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<p>I feel the same way. Not that these people are truly disturbed or anything; there are plenty of pretty much normal people who get a kick out of over-the-top horror movies with severed limbs, etc. I just can’t relate to it. I love scary movies, but I draw a clear distinction between scary and just gross. The latter is, to me, low-brow.</p>
<p>I thought of this thread last night when I answered the door and found two young adults, who told me they were there to “turn the tables” and offered me a treat or a trick. They had small packages wrapped in white. I looked pretty befuddled, so they explained that they were Christians and asked if I had anything they could help me pray over.</p>
<p>I was kind of … hm. Not put off in an angry or annoyed way, but man, it was awkward! I’m not a fundamentalist Christian and I was profoundly uncomfortable at the idea of praying on my front doorstep with two total strangers (or anybody else, really). I thanked them for the offer but nicely told them we’d take care of it ourselves. I probably could have thought of something more articulate if I hadn’t been expecting a ballerina or robot to be standing on the other side of the door when I answered it.</p>
<p>I wondered what would have happened if I’d accepted either the treat or trick. (And a teeny little bit of me wondered whether this could have been a teen-slasher-flick kind of ruse - so that was it for the night, for us at least. Lights out!).</p>
<p>Frazzled!!
You didn’t ask them to pray over the cursed candy?</p>
<p>:D Darn - an opportunity to save the candy missed!</p>
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<p>For generations, Christmas-related activities took place in schools even though some students were not Christian. Only recently did people realize that this was inappropriate.</p>
<p>July Fourth doesn’t come during the school year, but if it did, there could be issues because it is a U.S. patriotic holiday and some students in U.S. schools are not U.S. citizens. As with religious holidays, patriotic holidays don’t apply to everyone.</p>
<p>Something like this is part of the reason why some people object to the custom of saying the Pledge of Allegiance in schools. Students who are not U.S. citizens are asked to either recite words proclaiming their allegiance to a country that they are not citizens of – or, alternatively, to make themselves conspicuous by not participating, which no child likes to do. How bizarre is that?</p>
<p>I can’t agree with your latter comments. People living in the US should be prepared to celebrate U.S. patriotic holidays, or ignore them while others do, or leave.</p>
<p>And I don’t see anything wrong with singing Christmas carols in school, so long as they also sing songs from other prominent cultures. That’s education for all.</p>
<p>The hatred of Halloween by fundamentalists really bugs me. My d has friends who are anti-Halloween. While they avoided demons, here is what they missed:
Entire families walking door to door while the kids trick-or-treat (when else does this happen?).
Neighbors walking together, and saying hi to one another.
Hander-outers complimenting cute little ones.
Little kids saying thank you.
The party down the street, held by the kids of one family who love Halloween, at which a sizable portion of the neighborhood comes together for a pleasant time.</p>
<p>From my own perspective, some of my favorite childhood memories are of Halloween. Being out in the dark and cold, and surviving. Negotiating a departure time that satisfied parents and kids. Kids owning the street (sanctioned) on a common mission. The costumes - ours, those of others, and how different and funny they were. The taste of wildness that came from going door to door. Experiencing different reactions at each house. Bartering aftewords to exchange candies.</p>
<p>I’m so thankful that my own kid got to experience this.</p>
<p>But again, Marian, Halloween is not celebrating anything. It doesn’'t ask allegiance to a religion, country, ethnicity, or the like.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine anyone living in the US having a problem with the country and a public (government) school celebrating the country. I do agree that the Pledge of Allegiance has a personal component in asking recitation, and no student should be expected to. Especially because of the religious words that have been added to it.</p>
<p>But I do not see any parallel to Halloween, which is not asking for allegiance to or belief in anything.</p>
<p>I didn’t get a single trick-or-treater last night! 
I’m pretty disappointed, I love seeing kids all dressed up in cute costumes.</p>
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<p>I had the same experience in my Reform Jewish preschool (not acknowledging Halloween). While I think it’s silly, I respect that POV.</p>
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<p>The same could be said about having kids visit Santa in the classroom, though.</p>
<p>I was never so disgusted with political correctness as when my son’s nursery school (he is now a high school senior) insisted that all the children would make their costumes in class, from brown grocery sacks and they would all be TREES. Geez … what a stupid way to take the fun out of Halloween.</p>