Trick or Treat

[ghoti_mhic_uait]

I might be being overly fastidious, but why is it acceptable for children to go around strangers houses begging for sweets? Why is it acceptable for children to beg at all?

Comments

[jaq.livejournal.com]

Why is anything acceptable?

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

But is it really so widespread (in the UK)? I wasn't allowed to as a child and I'm not sure my parents were in any way unique.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

It seems to be widespread in Oxford, and they start early (i.e. now). IMO it isn't acceptable and we ignore them or decline. So far, no repercussions.

[velvetfox.livejournal.com]

As a child, I was allowed to go out, on halloween, with either my parents or much older friend, but only to the houses of family friends. I think that's what I'll be doing with Brandon as he grows up.

[zotz]

It was almost compulsory in Scotland. It was the custom in Scotland and Ireland (maybe the north of England too, I'm not sure) for God knows how long and has recently spread back to the rest of the UK from the States. AFAICT, at least.

[hatter.livejournal.com]

But, at least where I used to stay in scotland, it was about general dressing up, and you were supposed to entertain the neighbours, and they gaveyou treats.

Of course, no one had explained this to me, before I went trick-or-treating in imported "dress as something scary, give us stuff or we'll do something vaguely unappreciated" style.


the hatter

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

That does sound less nasty. i'm still not sure I'd go for it, even without the 'trick' elmnt; I spend 364 days telling him not to demand special treats, and one day telling him he can? (Well, no, actually, cos he very very rarely asks for sweets or treats, but in theory...)

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

I think it's getting more common. Mostly we just don;'t open the door, but then, last year I was in a block of flats with no direct access, and this year I'll be away, so it won't really be an issue until next year for us...

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

It seems, because they're ickle sweet kiddies in fancy dress, and therefore if anybody argues with a Daily Mail reader about it they get accused of being a miserable child-hater with no sense of humour, so nobody tells them to sod off in case the kids' parents come around and shout at them.

[aiwendel.livejournal.com]

they get to know the adults/families in the area, and get to learn to interact with people, albeit in a farical manner... and get over their shyness??

*shrug* i don't know, we always lived in the middle of no where so didn't really have any neighbours to pester...
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[ghoti.livejournal.com]

I like the theory, but I'm not sure I've seen it acting that way in practise, even if most children do drop the 'trick' part.

[hatter.livejournal.com]

It isn't. When "going round the neighbourhood" was synonymous with "going to see everyone we know in the neighbourhood" it made sense. I tend to ignore them, and not (just) because I'm a grumpy old git - these days it's just really not safe to entirely trust anything a stranger gives you, or go to their door without anyone who can protect you. Not so much an indictment of modern times, more of parents who these days allow it, when a generation or two ago they never would have - when very occassionally, that weird wo/man that people avoided really was someone that should be avoided.


the hatter

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

It's a tradition - like those cheery Christmas songs about 'give us figgy pudding'. There are even 'Halloween carols' in some parts of the country, about children going around the village asking for 'soul cakes' for All Souls.

Of course, when we all lived in village communities, everyone knew each other, so it wasn't like you were visiting strangers. The social demographic has changed, but old habits die hard.

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

I don't see much difference between the two, except that one is a fgrowing trend, and one is dead or dying.

[giolla.livejournal.com]

Indeed which makes much more sense, and by the power of altavista here's a recipe for soul cakes

I must confess that I do know the song concerned.

[wechsler.livejournal.com]

What used to be a corrupted custom is now just aggravated begging. However, it remains acceptable, because it's tradition, and apparently tradition is what makes Britain Great. On the assumption that it hasn't actually done anything worthwhile in the last few decades.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

We're not even following all the traditions though, we haven't invaded France for more than half a century now.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

That's because France invaded "us" in 1066 and won.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

I think that was really another bunch of people who had also invaded France (and a bunch of other places to boot). & the tradition dates from after then not before anyway.

[firinel.livejournal.com]

It's not. We got to people we know's houses, and to a few people in our immediate neighbourhood so we can meet them. We don't always actually get candy, even, but I think as Riordon gets older and we know more people in the area we'll instead just have a fancy dress party at home and invite her friends over and give them candy and treats there, and then everyone can have a sleep-over party afterwards.

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I tend to think of you as reasonable and sensible. I think I was more thinking of the mainstream, 'well, this is how it's done so we'll do it like that too' crowd. Or maybe I mean the 'we can't or won't control our children, so you get to see more of us' type. I certainly wouldn't put you in that category.

[aellia.livejournal.com]

As I'm a lot older than most of the commenters here, I can only say that there was no such thing as *trick or treating* when I was young.
Nobody ever celebrated Halloween and all we knew was that it was a "ghostly time" of the year.
I have very mixed feelings about the commercialism of it all..it's getting to be more like Christmas every year,outfits,bags of ghoulish sweets,mini besom brooms and gods forbid..even halloween toilet paper!
Let the children...and the adults have fun..but I just wish that they knew a little more of the history behind the celebration.
It's like saying ..yes we are doing it..but we don't really know why.

A little like asking children why they get Christmas presents..."because it's Christmas" would be the answer in most cases,I believe.
I have a poem that I found some years ago..bit is lost on my PC..I'll find it though..it say's it all really.

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

asking children why they get Christmas presents..."because it's Christmas" would be the answer in most cases,I believe.

Because for most people, that is the reason. Christmas celebrations have lost religious significance for the vast majority. Little Baby Jee and saints and angels don't come into it anymore, and electric light and cheap fuel has killed the need to bring colour and warmth back to a chill season.

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

*nod* and I disapprove of Christmas without Christ just as much. I mean, I'll celebrate other people's festivals with them, because it's their festival, but not someone else's festival just me by myself.