Trick or Treating Teenagers (or, go buy your own candy, ya slackers)

The BBQ Pit
21

heh, thanks for all the replies.

A couple years ago I was with it enough to cheerfully ask each trick-or-treater “Oh, how cute! What are you dressed up as tonight?” The little ones would be thrilled to tell me they were a princess/lion/spiderman/whatever. The elementary ones would sometimes have a clever answer (last night we had one who was dressed in a suit with his dad’s briefcase – he said he was James Bond).

The teenagers would just sort of look at me with a deer-in-the-headlights look. If they mumbled “uh, nuthin” I would give them a little ribbing along the lines of “It’s Halloween, you’re supposed to dress up!” Sometimes they too would have a clever answer. But at least it got my point across – dress up, dammit!

Although since I quit early, we now have half of our bowl of candy left…which seems awesome this morning but I’m sure I will regret it in a few days…

Next year we’ll be living in a different neighborhood. It will be interesting to see if the same ratio of cute-kids-to-sullen-teenagers holds up there.

22

My only complaints last night were with the older ones mobbing me and making the smaller ones who came wait (I couldn’t even see them). And the couple of the teenagers who tried to grab themselves a handful out of my bowl of candy, I dislike rude kids of any ages so those only got a couple of pieces. The little ones got extra.

23

The last time I trick or treated I was 43. I went out with my daughter who was just the cutest little 7 year old princess.

I was a bearded, cigar smoking guy in full drag and a long flowing blond wig, holding an empty beer can and a big purse. Turns out the purse was my best idea.

I went to the door with my daughter and in my deepest, gruffest voice yelled,“Trick or Beer!” I had to return home twice to empty out my purse. I gathered an assortment of over 18 cans/bottles of brew that night. Life was good.

Even better, I told some of the neighbors who didn’t recognize me that I was Bill Smith, another neighbor known for his practical jokes.

24

I’m bummed. We live out in the boonies and this is the second year with no trick-or-treaters. :frowning: When we have kids we’ll have to take them to my mom-in-law’s house in town.

Count me as one of those that think its pretty ridiculous for anyone over the age of 14 to still go trick or treating. The best part of Halloween is the costumes, and by the time you hit that age there are parties to go to, instead of competing with little kids for a pack of Smarties.

25

We got one ToTer last night–I was upstairs at the time, but by all reports it was a darling little preteenage mutant ninja turtle.

Losing rights to trick-or-treating is one of the great tragedies of growing up, IMO. But I do not understand folks who don’t dress up; dressing up as something weird or silly or plain cool is what makes Hallowe’en the best holiday ever.

Daniel

26

I’ve lived in a Detroit suburb for many years.

I’m pretty sure this has already happened, and no one noticed.

(Stealing a note from TP).

27

Number of cute little 3-year-olds dressed up as sullen teenagers – 35.

Some people just can’t appreciate the really good costumes.

Yesterday my girlfriend and I went treating – we went to a nursing home, in costume, to hand out treats to the old folks. Unfortunatley, the staff stopped us because many of the old people are diabetics (and will lie about being so). And since they had their party last Wednesday, they thought Halloween had come and gone, and they just looked at us like we were crazy.

It was still fun dressing up. And the nurse who dressed up as a French maid – well, it was fun to see her bend over to adjust beds and fluff pillows. :wink:

28

A woman in her 50s showed up alone at the front door. She was dressed pretty “worn” - I assumed it was a hobo costume.

Anyway, I gave her funny look, and she told me her daughter was back in the car (which I could not see, based on the way the entry-way is laid out). So, I smiled, gave her some candy and said “likely story” in a kidding sort of way.
She then tells me her daughter was raped last week, and was cowering in the car b/c she saw someone in a mask similar to what her assailant was wearing. I was taken aback, and muttered “uhhh…sorry.”

I gave her about 10 seconds and then walked out to the driveway. There was no car in sight, and she was at the house across the street.
I got a little pissed off. If her story was true, she should have taken her daughter home. However, I now think she really was a “hobo” looking for some free candy.

29

I’ve been in the States for just over four years now, but this was the first Halloween where i’ve lived in a house rather than an apartment, so it was my first experience of trick-or-treating. I went off to the supermarket and picked up a whole bunch of candy, put it in a basket, placed a couple of carved pumpkins on the front porch, and waited.

What surprised me the most was how many teenagers there were. My ratio wasn’t quite as bad as the OP’s, but i had always been under the impression that trick-or-treating was confined largely to the under-12 brigade. I wasn’t too worried about giving them some candy, but i must say that i was pretty pissed off at how uncommunicative and even rude some of them were.

My biggest mistake, however, was to let a few of these grasping fuckers get their ham-sized mitts in my candy basket. A single grab from one of these little bastards was enough to noticeably deplete my stock, to the extent that i had to turn away a few kids at the end of the night. The little kids, on the other hand, generally took one piece and had to be encouraged to take more. I adopted a policy of letting the young kids pick their own, while i policed the older kids by handing the stuff to them to make sure they didn’t go overboard.

My partner suggested posting a height limit next year, and i did consider it for a while, but i think that simply making sure that the big kids don’t get their grubby hands in the basket should do the trick. I will be tempted, however, to turn away anyone who doesn’t have a costume.

30

I haven’t gotten any TOTers since I moved into a condo. The neighborhood where I used to live was very popular on Halloween.

I didn’t really care about teenagers (since my daughter was one of them and didn’t really give it up until she hit 17) but I absolutely won’t give candy to any kid who won’t say “Trick or Treat” If I open the door to a bunch of sullen teen or pre-teen kids just holding their bags out I usually looked at them and said “what do you say”. If I just got blank stares I prompted them. Sometimes this was also met with blank stares so I’d have to say “You’re not getting any candy if you don’t say Trick or Treat”. Then they’d usually mumble something that sounded vaguely like Trick or Treat. If I was bored I’d demand a better response but by the end of the night I’d just give up and hand over the goods.

Wish I would have though of having an alternate bag of candy though I must say that almost 100% of the teens at my door were in costumes.

31

We had a shithead (teen) knock over a little kid in front of the house to steal his candy. Luckily, he didn’t get much. It was a clumsy grap and he tore the kid’s bag, spilling most of it. He was gone before the **dozen adults ** in the yard could even react. (How the hell stupid do you have to be to do this in front of grownups? Well, obviously not stupid, just fast.)

There was recent immigrant family with two boys. It was very apparent that this was a new idea, and the only words of English any of them spoke were, “Tricky treat! Thank you! Happily Hollow bean!” One of them had a Frankenstein mask, and the other just a whole mess o’ bandaids all over his face. I gave them an A+ and an extra handful of candy for effort.

Later in the evening, we were holding our Samhain ritual honoring the dead, and a few more punks came to the door. (Way after 9:00). Unfortnately, they could see us through the large bay windows and wouldn’t go away. “We’re out of candy!” one of us yelled through the window. “Can we come to the party, then?” They were so obnoxious, and just wouldn’t leave. Finally, my husband, in full Cernunnos regalia - long hooded cloak with celtic symbols, leaf mask and crown of horns - stood up. All 6 foot 4 inches of him. He took one step towards the window, and the punks ran away, screaming. Priceless. :smiley:

32

No costume, no candy. We got VERY lucky this year and only had one sullen teenager without a costume. It went like this:

ME: So, what are you dressed up as?
SULLEN TEENAGER: I had a mask but I forgot it at home.
ME: What a coincidence. I had some candy but I forgot it in the kitchen.
(Slam!)

I don’t mind teenagers if they’re dressed up and into the fun. Don’t dress up, no candy.

I couldn’t help but notice that it seemed to be the kids who haven’t been in this country long (Toronto is a city of immigrants) who had the best and most original costumes (a lot of Spider-Men though) and were the most enthusiastic. Of course, they got the most generous helpings of primo candy, such as the prize chocolate bars. Maybe they’re less jaded.

33

It definitely seems that the ratio of sullen street-clothed teenagers to cute costumed kids has been increasing over the last few years. This year, for the first time, I deliberately made plans that would place me away from home on Halloween.

I think the whole annoying phenomenon is tied in to an ugly sense of entitlement people seem to have about Halloween candy.

A few years ago, I was working a lot of shift work. One day, I got home at around 6 PM after a long drive from a field location. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and hardly had any food in the house. As I steamed some rice, I was surprised to hear a knock on the door. It was trick-or-treaters – I’d forgotten it was Halloween. I apologized sincerely, turned off my porch light and sat down to dinner.

But they kept coming. The code for “porch light off = not taking part” either had been rescinded or was being ignored.

A typical exchange:

(I open the door).

TOTers: Trick or treat!

Me: I’m sorry, I don’t have any candy.

(Awkward pause)

TOTers: Trick or treat!

Me: Uh, I’m sorry, I don’t have any candy.

(Repeat until exasperated)

Eventually, I quit answering the door – I let them knock until they gave up. This worked OK. But at one point, as I walked across the kitchen, I heard some brat say angrily, “No wait, there’s someone in there” and resume knocking, harder than before.

There was a sense of offended righteousness in his voice, like he was thinking: “This man’s not giving us candy – isn’t that against the law?”

News flash to brats – Halloween participation is voluntary. It’s a custom, not a tax, and you can’t sic the cops on me if I don’t fork over.

34

I was a little put off by the trick-or-treaters my self this year. We had about 30% cute little kids in costume. The rest were kids who you could tell had been dropped off in our neighborhood.There were alot of the 8 to 12 year olds in no costume. I’d be embaressed to trick or treat at that age with no costume. I blame the parent’s for that. Come’on I can appreciate that the parents might not have the money to get their kids a fancy costume, but how much would it cost for a little face paint or a pair of animal ears or devil horns. Anything would have been better than nothing. I also had loads of sullen teenagers with no costume.I don’t mind the teenagers trick or treating but get a costume if your begging for candy. My most memorable begger was a teenage girl about 16 years old who was obviously about 8 months pregnant.I almost told her to wait while I got her a nice healthy apple, as the last thing she needed was all that sugar.(oh yeah she was not costumed either)
I was tempted to not give the uncostumed anything, but I didn’t want to wake up to my house Teepeed and/or egged. I’ve decided I’ll hand out candy for one more year,but if the trend toward rude uncostumed teenagers continues I’m not going pass out candy any more (or I could give them pennies ha ha)

35

I find that in my neighborhood the tide turns from cute costumed grade schoolers to take your candy and then smash your pumpkin and shaving cream your car for the hell of it teenagers around 6:30ish. So somewhere between 6:30 and 7:00 the porch light goes out.

It seems that around here for every one teenager who wants to get dressed up and trick or treat with some friends for the fun of it there are 5 or so that just want to cause trouble. I went to my Mom’s for dinner last night and I could barely drive up the street trying to dodge pumpkin remains and packs of teens that were strolling up the middle of the street and refused to move. The police were patroling all over, but they can’t be everywhere at once.

It’s really sad.

36

:rolleyes:
Jesus, let the teens have some fun. The sad thing in our society is that when kids hit their teens, we refuse to let them act like kids. We chide them for wanting to play their old kid games. Yet, we also refuse to treat them as adults. They exist in this non-age limbo. Perhaps this is why they are often so angry. They are confused as to how to act. We have no “rights of passage” for them unless you are Jewish and throw your kid a Bar/Bat Mitzvah.

Ok. I’m done with my not-very-well-spoken-becuase-I’m-work-rant.

37

Our town has a safe Halloween thing every year in the downtown area, where local organizations hand out candy and treats to the kids during the trick or treat hours, and then there’s a costume contest and some other activities. My high school daughter was there this year, volunteering with the NHS group from school. She said it went pretty well, but they did have some rude, uncostumed teens. She also said one woman came up with a baby in one arm, a cigarette in the other hand, and a bag hanging from the hand with the cigarette. She just held out the bag. My daughter tried to pretend she didn’t see her. But the one that wins the prize was the woman who came up with a bag and no kid in sight. When daughter asked her if she had a child with her, she said the kid couldn’t come, he was home on house arrest!

38

The Last Time I Went Trick-or-Treating (or, Worst Hallowe’en, Ever.)

I was a big kid, I was only twelve years old - a young twelve - but I always got mistaken for being much older. (Girls in early adolesence - especially early maturing ones like me - can be a lot taller and more ahem physically mature than boys at the same age.)

I did have a costume but I’ve never been very imaginative so maybe it wasn’t very good.

I went out with my older sister and her friends. They were teenagers. As older sisters of twelve-year-olds often are. Maybe if I’d gone with my parents it would have been different (or friends, if I had had any).

We got turned away from quite a lot of houses. My memory is getting more scowls than candy that night. That was my last Hallowe’en, I couldn’t bear to put myself through the humiliation again. Imagine getting dressed up to have fun and getting treated like rubbish by the adults who are supposed to play along.

It was crap. No fun at all. I won’t bore you with the details of my preteen angst and insecurity that were fuelled by that shitty night.

I’ll just ask you not to judge your trick-or-treaters based on percieved age. Attitude, sure. But don’t ruin a little kid’s night just because you think s/he isn’t “little” enough.

39

I don’t mind older kids coming around at all, but I’m another who is disappointed at how few trick-or-treaters have a costume. Probably three-fourths of my trick-or-treaters had no costume whatsoever this year. Harumph.

40

I think a couple posters are missing the point. Myself and some of the other posters have no problems with teens in costume trick or treating. What we have a problem with are those surly teens in street clothes who are rude and seem to think they’re entitled to candy simply because they show up at your door.