Trunk or Treat? We worry too much.

At this time of year we hear of well-intended alternatives to traditional Halloween celebrations. This has been true since I was a boy. One alternative that was new to me is “Trunk or Treat.”

If I understand it correctly (and I think I went to one in Rockford, MI last year), a few folks decorate themselves and their vehicles for Halloween and the kids go trunk-to-trunk getting candy. The whole event takes place in a parking lot, usually at a church.

Is there anything wrong with Trunk or Treat? No, it’s fun, safe, and full of empty calories. What’s not to like?

Is it necessary? No.

Why not let it be an addition rather than a replacement?

I feel the same way about Santa and the Easter Bunny and other magical things that make children smile and stay with them for a lifetime.

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When I was a boy, moms inspected apples for pins and razor blades, an urban legend that somehow made Trick or Treat a little more interesting to tweens going door to door, having been filled as we were with visions of Disney’s old crone preparing the poison apple for Snow White.

If you listen to Old Time Radio Halloween shows, you’ll hear our parents’ parents and their parents worry about the same things, play the same tricks, and get into the same trouble with soap and toilet paper and doorbells.

[2013-10-14]

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