# It's the Great Minirants, Charlie Brown! (October minirants) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 1, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-minirants-charlie-brown-october-minirants/921997 "2020-10-01T23:41:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-minirants-charlie-brown-october-minirants/921997/261 "2020-10-31T19:22:09Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > We (Boston area) got snow yesterday. The forecast was for ‘a dusting to one inch,’ but it just kept snowing. And snowing. Basically until late afternoon. Today the TV weatherman said we got more snow yesterday than we had gotten the entire MONTH of JANUARY this year. My daughter and two of her friends in NYC just rented a car and drove there yesterday. Texted me some nice pictures. (They also texted me pics of the meal the got at Raising Cane’s (which was the reason for the trip.) > [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Which southern/southwestern state is least obnoxiously red, anyway? Hawaii isn’t particularly obnoxious OR particularly red. And it’s just about as far southwest as you can get. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-minirants-charlie-brown-october-minirants/921997/262 "2020-10-31T23:11:06Z")
Yeah, pretty much this. I live in Wake Forest – home to a Baptist seminary, not the university – and I have to drive into Raleigh city limits to get to a liquor store (known here as the ABC Store, or sometimes “the package store”). I have seen a surprising number of vandalized Republican candidate signs this time around though, so that’s different. (Off topic, is anyone else sitting at home in the dark because one resident of the household is afraid of attracting trick-or-treaters?) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-minirants-charlie-brown-october-minirants/921997/263 "2020-11-01T00:51:07Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > (Off topic, is anyone else sitting at home in the dark because one resident of the household is afraid of attracting trick-or-treaters?) My husband went around and turned off all the lights and sounds. I’m sitting here in my upstairs office in a small island of light, with the cat. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-minirants-charlie-brown-october-minirants/921997/264 "2020-11-01T02:09:34Z")
I have all of the lights on, address posted on Nextdoor’s T&T map, candy, a candy chute and mask/gloves handy. I look out the open windows hopefully every time I hear the neighbors’ dogs bark, but nothing so far. I can’t blame COVID for this, I have the same results every year and I get it. Streets are dark with no sidewalks, houses are far apart and there is a Trunk and Treat event happening at the park. Our neighbors bring their kids over on the way to head out and a couple of folks might drive their kid/s around and see the lights, but that really is all I ever get. The neighbor’s kid will get the bag of candy tomorrow. Our furry money pit now has a goopy ear. He was just fine until I posted that he was fine on the 20th. Why the heck can’t I learn to keep my mouth closed? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-minirants-charlie-brown-october-minirants/921997/265 "2020-11-01T02:14:14Z")
My Mini-rant? Can we _Please_ not rank College Football teams this season? Half the fucking teams aren’t playing, half the fucking games are cancelled or compromised. Stop. It’s fucking silly. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-minirants-charlie-brown-october-minirants/921997/266 "2020-11-01T03:15:00Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > Why the heck can’t I learn to keep my mouth closed? What the heck are you spitting in his ear? ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-minirants-charlie-brown-october-minirants/921997/267 "2020-11-01T04:32:31Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > I have all of the lights on, address posted on Nextdoor’s T&T map, candy, a candy chute and mask/gloves handy. I look out the open windows hopefully every time I hear the neighbors’ dogs bark, but nothing so far. > > I can’t blame COVID for this, I have the same results every year and I get it. Streets are dark with no sidewalks, houses are far apart and there is a Trunk and Treat event happening at the park. Our neighbors bring their kids over on the way to head out and a couple of folks might drive their kid/s around and see the lights, but that really is all I ever get. > > The neighbor’s kid will get the bag of candy tomorrow. Strong recommendations here that kids NOT go door-to-door on Halloween, but have some form of COVID-safe event. I had already bought and made up my usual 60 bags worth of Halloween-themed treats, so put out the pumpkin (with a mask on, of course) and waited to see if anyone showed up. One little girl and her father did. If I had been thinking, I would have given her half the bowl of candy. I suppose it’s good that parents were being plague-safe, but I do miss seeing the kidlets in their costumes. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-minirants-charlie-brown-october-minirants/921997/268 "2020-11-01T14:33:35Z")
Yeah, we had a quiet evening. Five percent of our usual crowd, but we expected that, it’s a well-educated neighborhood. But my wife bought only candy we like, so this morning we’re counting up our treats! ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-minirants-charlie-brown-october-minirants/921997/269 "2020-11-01T15:02:31Z")
I stayed dark last night, as did most of the neighborhood. One house west of me was all done up, posted all over fb, and had a decent line of cars from 530-630ish. Otherwise, I think I heard maybe three families out and about. My sister made non candy treat bags, had 19 kids between 5 - 7. Last year they had over 100. My mini rant, and I’m sure I’m not alone this morning: I purposely fed the feline later last night to hopefully accommodate the clock change. Nope. 445am I had her furry self purring in my ear, pawing my forehead, scratching at the wall above my head. Jerk. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-minirants-charlie-brown-october-minirants/921997/270 "2020-11-01T22:25:34Z")
Something happened on my street last night that resulted in three cop cars (no sirens though), someone laying on the ground near a neighbor’s mailbox, and traffic being reduced to a single lane, halfheartedly directed by someone with a dim flashlight. And yeah, the state had been heavily encouraging people to give up trick-or-treating this year and find some fun at-home activity, like a scavenger hunt for candy. You couldn’t tell a thing was wrong in my neighborhood last night though; in fact, there seemed to be more trick-or-treaters this year than last year (although some of the ones I saw appeared to just be on my street to look at the activity). The HOA even brought in a food truck. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-minirants-charlie-brown-october-minirants/921997/271 "2020-11-02T17:00:34Z")
We decided not to participate this year. We didn’t buy any candy or do any decorations and we left the porch and exterior lights off and the all the front blinds closed. No one rang the bell. But…if someone had missed all our hints and rang the bell, we would’ve answered. While we didn’t buy anything, we always have individually wrapped treats in our kitchen…brownies and Rice Krispy bars mostly. We would’ve just been to curious to ignore it. But the situation didn’t come up [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-minirants-charlie-brown-october-minirants/921997.md?page=13)