# What are you scared of? Halloween/October Mini-rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 1, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099 "2019-10-01T14:38:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/141 "2019-10-18T14:06:33Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > Teal pumpkins are a real and useful custom, for allergies. > > Blue pumpkins are a thing invented once, for one person. Well-meaning but ignorant people keep sharing posts about “blue pumpkins for autism.” Autistic people themselves worry that it could single out autistic people for bullying. > > Snopes article on the issue: [Does Carrying a Blue Halloween Bucket Signify That a Trick-or-Treater Has Autism?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/blue-halloween-buckets-autism/) > A viral Facebook post created the misleading impression that carrying blue pumpkin buckets on Halloween is a recognized signifier for autism. Ah. Yes, that is stupid. Besides, everyone knows you should carry a sack for your trick-or-treat haul. Preferably a pillowcase. Those plastic pumpkin buckets don’t hold near enough candy. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/142 "2019-10-18T14:21:58Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > Ah. Yes, that is stupid. > > Besides, everyone knows you should carry a sack for your trick-or-treat haul. Preferably a pillowcase. Those plastic pumpkin buckets don’t hold near enough candy. My friends and I tended to have large cloth bags (I think my mom made them for us.) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/143 "2019-10-19T01:13:05Z")
My $7000 cat pulled off 3 toenails. O joy ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/144 "2019-10-19T01:40:57Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > My $7000 cat pulled off 3 toenails. O joy Yours or his? And either way. **Ouch**. To the n[SUP]th[/SUP] degree, because OUCH. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/145 "2019-10-19T01:50:39Z")
His. Me, I’d live, him - infected feeties ---
**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 19, 2019, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/146 "2019-10-19T02:30:40Z")
I’m afraid this might re-ignite the debates about de-clawing cats. How cruel can it be if they’re doing it to THEMSELVES? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/147 "2019-10-19T02:37:10Z")
You paid $7000 for a cat? ---
**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 19, 2019, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/148 "2019-10-19T02:42:16Z")
I got the idea that most of it was aftermarket repairs done by a veterinarian. I could be mistaken, though. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/149 "2019-10-19T03:01:50Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I got the idea that most of it was aftermarket repairs done by a veterinarian. I could be mistaken, though. Good point. Clutch and brake work on a cat is pretty expensive. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/150 "2019-10-19T05:25:52Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > You paid $7000 for a cat? He got sick, really sick, in August/Sept., a life threatening kidney thing - the emergency vet bill was $7K for a week. I didn’t pay anything for him, but couldn’t just say Ok, let him die. So he’s now my $7280 cat. Who needs to go back to the vet Monday. But what the hell do you do, when the cat has been so wonderful for so many years? FCS, he sleeps on the pillow next to my head! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/151 "2019-10-19T14:46:14Z")
We were eating at our favorite Tex-Mex hangout yesterday evening, when a couple and their 8-ish daughter arrived and slid into the next booth. The girl immediately starting playing a game or video on her cellphone at ear-splitting volume. After several minutes even the parents evidently began getting fed up, because I heard her father say “Starting that shit again? I’m gonna kick your ass.” After brief griping and resistance, the kid turned down the volume. Not pretty - but hey, it worked. 😃 ---
**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 19, 2019, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/152 "2019-10-19T18:31:39Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > We were eating at our favorite Tex-Mex hangout yesterday evening, when a couple and their 8-ish daughter arrived and slid into the next booth. > > The girl immediately starting playing a game or video on her cellphone at ear-splitting volume. After several minutes even the parents evidently began getting fed up, because I heard her father say “Starting that shit again? I’m gonna kick your ass.” > > After brief griping and resistance, the kid turned down the volume. > > Not pretty - but hey, it worked. 😃 I’d have asked the server to bring the guy the dessert of his choice (flan or deep-fried ice cream, IIRC), on me. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/153 "2019-10-19T18:56:43Z")
Not me. I’d be too annoyed at him for allowing the brat to be playing audio loudly enough that it was being inflicted on other customers. It needed to be turned OFF, not just down. If others could still hear it, she was still being rude. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/154 "2019-10-21T22:42:12Z")
A few years ago, I took up cheese making as a hobby. (I have moderate success with hard cheese, but excel at soft cheese.) One of the first things I did was find a dairy where I could procure fresh, grass fed, pasteurized milk and cream. On Thursday, I wanted to start some sour cream for dinner Saturday, so sent my BB to the dairy for cream. The dairy had power problems and weren’t going to be able to sell anything for a few days. My BB bought some cream from the grocery store. I started the sour cream while I was at lunch on Thursday and set it aside to let the wonderful chemical processes do their magic at room temp. When I looked at it that evening and noticed that nothing seemed to be happening, I thought it was slightly odd but even soft cheeses take patience. It wasn’t close to being set when I got home for lunch on Friday, which was very odd. That’s when I actually looked at the label on the cream and found it was ultra pasteurized. :smack:As this was my first exposure to that stuff, the jar of cream turned into a science experiment. As of lunch today, the jar of cream had some solids setting on the sides. The center was still liquid, and when I tasted it, it was just very creamy buttermilk. The jar is still sitting on the counter, I want to see how long it will take before some sort of chemical reaction starts to take place. I find myself mildly alarmed at dairy products that can sit at room temp for days without fermenting. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/155 "2019-10-21T23:05:26Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > Blue pumpkins? I haven’t heard this one. The only pumpkin color thing I’ve heard of is teal pumpkins for allergy-free treats. Huh. I thought the teal pumpkins were for non-food treats. Although non-food treats are probably allergy-free. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/156 "2019-10-22T15:11:20Z")
Triple rant: I was out of office yesterday for my four month transplant check up. Coverage was supposed to handle all phone calls and important case duties. Nothing was done. Asked the coverage person why. Oh, you were out? Dude, there’s five of us on our team. Pretty easy to see if someone is missing. Or, you could’ve looked at Skype, which noted I was out. Or, you could have looked at the team calendar where it was listed I was out. Uh, sorry. Want me to do something? Second rant is for the scheduler at the hospital. I had five appointments yesterday. 7am. 1030am. 1045am. 145pm. 2pm. These were scheduled back at time of discharge, so June 23rd. In the beginning of July I asked that they be rescheduled so I wasn’t down there all day, was told nope, but they’d try to reschedule on the fly. 7am was on time. 1045am was held at 9am. 1030am was held at 10am… nothing could be done about the 145pm or 2pm appointments. It was suggested I just hang around, and MAYBE they’d get to me earlier. Sit around for almost four hours on the offhand chance someone would see me sooner? In a waiting room full of people drenched in perfume/cologne, watching youtube videos with volume on high, YELLING phone conversations? Fuck that. Came back at 1. Was scolded for leaving, as I was already checked in for the appointments and it caused issues in their system. Bummer. My 145pm appointment ended up being 2pm, my 2pm appointment was at 3pm. Third rant: Medicare are assholes. By law, being a transplant recipient, I’m eligible for Parts A and B, effective the month of transplant. I had been receiving Parts A and B prior to June, due to how long I had been on dialysis. When I would receive the premium notice for Part B, I would take it into the dialysis office and they would arrange for the kidney foundation to pay it. Unfortunately, due to high turnover in the financial office, Part B wasn’t being paid. Part B was cancelled effective June 1st. Early August, I spent over half a day at the local SSA office reapplying for Parts A and B. A was immediately granted, back to June. Saturday I received notice Part B was approved, effective this month, with a monthly premium of $136. I _needed_ Part B for June/July/August. At this point it’s not cost effective to take Part B, as my labs through my employer insurance are $50/pop. I’m now down to bi-weekly labs. So I guess whoo hoo that the (now) $86K of bills on my table will be resolved through my employer insurance, but fuck, I will still need to come up with at least $5k to pay what should have been covered by Part B. I am appealing their decision, but it can take months. Months where bills will continue to be unpaid, my credit being dinged, and almost daily threatening calls from medical providers. (On the positive, I’m doing great, my numbers are good, I can choose whenever I want my old kidneys removed [although not laproscopically, so that’s going to suck], and I’m feeling moderately more “normal”) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/157 "2019-10-22T15:23:43Z")
**MissTake** , when you post in this thread, you put all my dumb problems in perspective. ---
**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 22, 2019, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/158 "2019-10-22T15:25:29Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Huh. I thought the teal pumpkins were for non-food treats. Although non-food treats are probably allergy-free. I dunno; I’m allergic to Chick tracts. OTOH, it _does_ stretch the word “treat” beyond its theoretical breaking point to apply it to Chick tracts. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/159 "2019-10-22T15:49:52Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > **MissTake** , when you post in this thread, you put all my dumb problems in perspective. Nope nope nope. Problems are problems. You’ve had a lot of loss lately, and I give you a _TON_ of credit for your strength. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/160 "2019-10-22T21:58:31Z")
Prior to last week, I hadn’t had a McDonald’s burger in at least 15 years. In fact, I quit eating fast food burgers about that time, as there are far better options. But we were on a visit out east last week and on the road through a small town, and my blood sugar started to drop. Rather than go to “the dark place”, we opted to stop at the only game in town, which was a McD, and get an influx of protein and carbs. So I ordered the standard Big Mac combo. Worst fucking hamburger I think I’ve ever had. If those patties were a quarter inch thick, I’d be surprised, and completely tasteless. The bun was stale, and a small squirt of condiment wasn’t enough to help out. I quit after three bites and made do with the fries. I don’t remember the BM being all that good 15 years ago, but I’m pretty sure it was better than this pathetic offering that they charged me $10 for. Lesson learned (again), and I would have to be on death’s door with no other options before eating that crap again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099.md?page=9)