Trick or treaters driving in cars

[Az B]

Anyone noticed the parents of T&T'ers following the kids around in thier cars? I went out and talked to a few. Tried to convince them to get out and walk... it's a beautiful night here. I had to offer alcohol to get them out of thier cars, but I got them out!

Baby steps...

Az

[0o0o0o]

thats sad...

[worker4youth]

That IS sad. It means gas isn't high enough...

[samundsen]

I noticed that! I commented to my wife about it earlier this evening when I noticed a van dropping off kids right outside our house. Couldn't believe it.

[taterhead]

hmmm...

now they've had a drink or two and driving home with their kids.

Uh, ok.

[scottmorrison99]

It's pitiful, I see it every year. Some of the kids get back in the car to get driven to the next house, even. Is it any wonder obesity is so rampant in America? I think it is about as lazy as a person can get. It reminds me of the people who circle the parking lot at the health club to get a closer parking space so they don't have to walk another 50 feet to WORK OUT! Do they even realize how ridiculous they seem?

[ctyler]

It happens here as well. I saw it last night, a car following three kids who were going door to door.

[Pampusik]

Driving + tons of candy = fat kids. Sad.

[The Seldom Kill]

If we don't have fat kids then who will be made to go on humiliating boot camp reality TV and made to cry for my entertainment.

Oooops...

I meant, yes, that is sad.

[bandregg]

We get plenty of parents either driving their kids door to door, or driving behind their kids. I've always thought that was pretty lame. But this year I started thinking about it and realized that in our neighborhood the houses are set back very far from the road, we don't have the best streetlights, we don't have sidewalks at all, and most importantly we have several long streches of dark houses (the international symbol of don't ring my doorbell on halloween). So, this year, I'm giving them a pass.

Where I grew up everything was the opposite: big standard suburban neighborhood, houses close to the street, sidewalks, plenty of light, everyone at home giving candy away. We walked for miles (it seemed).

Different times, different places.

[CagerTools]

I've noticed this too. Its so sad. I hate it. I really do. I really really hate it.

I ****ing hate how fat and lazy we are. I'm sick of seeing cars everywhere. Why can't people ****ing walk around like people used to on Halloween? Plus, its even lamer when people drive their kids to other neighborhoods and then use their cars as rapid shuttles from house to house. I think people should stay in their own neighborhoods and walk.

**** America!

Lol

[lala]

I noticed this too. I thought: how strange!!! It was a beautiful night of here, as well. And the neighborhood is densely housed, typically quiet and totally safe. What is wrong with people!!!

[budster]

Here, trick-or-treating is a dying tradition.

[old guy rant]
When I was a kid (1970s), we either walked or biked all over town for several hours, until we'd filled up our plastic jack-o-lanterns with wonderful, evil candy! Parents? We didn't need no steenking parents. We went in small groups, and the only time I ever heard of anything bad happening to anyone was when a kid got hit by a car one year. Probably 80% of households gave out candy, and those that didn't often got their houses egged or "rolled" (TP'd).

Now, despite the lowest crime rate in 40 years, parents are so frickin' insecure about their "precious little ones" that they can't bear to turn 'em loose even for short periods anymore. Meh.

Now, the downtown merchants give out candy, and last night that was a mob scene. With ubiquitous hovering parents, of course. The popular thing today seems to be:
drive kids to the downtown candy grab;
then (optionally)
troll around (in car, but of course) for the few remaining houses that give out candy.

This year, exactly two houses in my mom's neighborhood gave out candy. I helped her decorate her house and greet the little ghosts-n-goblins (in full Pirate regalia, of course). Exactly zero houses gave out candy in my (yuppie) neighborhood. We'll probably do it again next year, inshallah, because the kids that came seemed truly delighted.

I'm guessing they missed out on the downtown candy grab for whatever reason -- or maybe their parents hated for them to miss out on Halloween the way they (we) remember it. Whatever, it was gratifying. And charming. The downtown thing has about as much charm as free hot dog day at the car dealership.
[/old guy rant]

Does this match anyone else's experience?

[Dahon.Steve]

We have a center of town and I don't remember seeing cars as most of the kids were walking. It was a good site and reminded me of the days when I did it years ago. Sidwalks that go for miles and homes with well lit streets. A trick or treaters dream.

[rnorris]

Yep, saw it last night when I was out for a run in my neighborhood-- parents sitting in cars while the kids go door to door. Not just one or two either. Did see some teenagers skidding and jumping their BMX bikes though, made me want to get one. :)

Edit to add: I've also seen parents drive their kids ONE BLOCK to a school bus stop and then drive home!! (an observation from other runs, on the bike I'm gone too quickly to notice stuff like this).

[humancongereel]

Here, trick-or-treating is a dying tradition.

[old guy rant]
When I was a kid (1970s), we either walked or biked all over town for several hours, until we'd filled up our plastic jack-o-lanterns with wonderful, evil candy! Parents? We didn't need no steenking parents. We went in small groups, and the only time I ever heard of anything bad happening to anyone was when a kid got hit by a car one year. Probably 80% of households gave out candy, and those that didn't often got their houses egged or "rolled" (TP'd).

Now, despite the lowest crime rate in 40 years, parents are so frickin' insecure about their "precious little ones" that they can't bear to turn 'em loose even for short periods anymore. Meh.

Now, the downtown merchants give out candy, and last night that was a mob scene. With ubiquitous hovering parents, of course. The popular thing today seems to be:
drive kids to the downtown candy grab;
then (optionally)
troll around (in car, but of course) for the few remaining houses that give out candy.

This year, exactly two houses in my mom's neighborhood gave out candy. I helped her decorate her house and greet the little ghosts-n-goblins (in full Pirate regalia, of course). Exactly zero houses gave out candy in my (yuppie) neighborhood. We'll probably do it again next year, inshallah, because the kids that came seemed truly delighted.

I'm guessing they missed out on the downtown candy grab for whatever reason -- or maybe their parents hated for them to miss out on Halloween the way they (we) remember it. Whatever, it was gratifying. And charming. The downtown thing has about as much charm as free hot dog day at the car dealership.
[/old guy rant]

Does this match anyone else's experience?


i grew up in a small town, not the 70s, but that matches my experience fairly well.

side note: small town with nothing to do = riding bikes a lot = lifelong love of bikes? i've often wondered...

[timmhaan]

i wouldn't give anyone candy if they drove up in a car.

[Az B]

i wouldn't give anyone candy if they drove up in a car.

That was my first reaction, but then I decided it was unfair to punish the kids for having lazy parents.

As a sequel to the story, I was at the mini mall today running an errand for my wife. One store was out of what she wanted, so I headed over to the next store in the same shopping center maybe 40 meters away. As I was headed over, I saw a young girl come out of the store I was headed to, get it her car and drive over to the store I came from. She went across the middle of the parking lot where there were plenty of parked cars instead of following the correct roadway. She cut across, count 'em 4!, lanes of parked cars and was creamed by a car driving through the parking lot correctly as she cut across the 4th lane to park her car in front of the other store. I felt sorry for her, or I would have said "shoulda walked, it's only like 90 feet". But I kept my mouth shut.

Why do people hate walking so much, yet spend enormous amounts of time and money dealing with fad diets? Don't they understand that walking allows them to eat more?

Az

[humancongereel]

my ex and i went shopping one day and she did that. i was sort of incredulous. then she said she didn't want to carry the groceries. i said "we're getting a tomato and an onion to put in our supper", and she said "no, i'm stocking the house". grrrrr. i lost that one, and it irritated me. driving between parking lots...*sigh*

[chocula]

And the neighborhood is densely housed, typically quiet and totally safe.

Mine, too. Kids are driven into to my neighborhood from areas of town that are not any of the above. Thankfully, some parents parked their cars and walked from house to house with the children. Other, of course, did not. This has become the norm. What really gets people riled around here are trick-or-treaters who don't wear costumes or who are really too old to be engaging in a children's activity. As one person put it: If you have a mustache, you are too old to be trick-or-treating.

[jbonus]

Here, trick-or-treating is a dying tradition.

[old guy rant]
When I was a kid (1970s), we either walked or biked all over town for several hours, until we'd filled up our plastic jack-o-lanterns with wonderful, evil candy! Parents? We didn't need no steenking parents. We went in small groups, and the only time I ever heard of anything bad happening to anyone was when a kid got hit by a car one year. Probably 80% of households gave out candy, and those that didn't often got their houses egged or "rolled" (TP'd).

Now, despite the lowest crime rate in 40 years, parents are so frickin' insecure about their "precious little ones" that they can't bear to turn 'em loose even for short periods anymore. Meh.

Now, the downtown merchants give out candy, and last night that was a mob scene. With ubiquitous hovering parents, of course. The popular thing today seems to be:
drive kids to the downtown candy grab;
then (optionally)
troll around (in car, but of course) for the few remaining houses that give out candy.

This year, exactly two houses in my mom's neighborhood gave out candy. I helped her decorate her house and greet the little ghosts-n-goblins (in full Pirate regalia, of course). Exactly zero houses gave out candy in my (yuppie) neighborhood. We'll probably do it again next year, inshallah, because the kids that came seemed truly delighted.

I'm guessing they missed out on the downtown candy grab for whatever reason -- or maybe their parents hated for them to miss out on Halloween the way they (we) remember it. Whatever, it was gratifying. And charming. The downtown thing has about as much charm as free hot dog day at the car dealership.
[/old guy rant]

Does this match anyone else's experience?

Brings back good memories.

[budster]

i grew up in a small town, not the 70s, but that matches my experience fairly well.

side note: small town with nothing to do = riding bikes a lot = lifelong love of bikes? i've often wondered...
That's how I got started! Actually, once I got something to do (paper route), my love of bikes grew exponentially. Small town = good.

[genericbikedude]

The only reason to give kids candy( ;) ) is to stop them from making tricks. If the fat little suckers are being shuttled around by annoying yuppie parents in suburbans, they ain't doing snit. No eggs, no candy. I egged the hell out of people when I was a kid (80's & 90's). Next year, they still didn't give. I didn't mind.

[PKG]

Yeah I saw a minivan full of kids get out in front of a house. at the time I thought it was a group of friends meeting at one kids house to set off on foot but now I am not so sure...

[trick]

the car thing really got to me this year. I saw a parent and their child trolling for occupied houses in a Hummer H2. I turned off our light after that.

[budster]

Brings back good memories.
I'm glad it does.

OK, confess: as a young teen, did you, too, spend most of your disposable income on video games like Donkey Kong and Galaga?

[pdxbikelover]

people are ment to kill them selfs if their that stupid to bad.