October 31, 2009
On Trick or Treating
OK quick extra blog. Trick of Treating – what is it?
Either:
1. A horrific American import which encourages children to threaten strangers in order to extort material goods
Or:
2. A wonderful institution which encourages social cohesion by breaking down barriers of anonymity between neighbours in our atomised neo-liberal society; after all, on what other night would parents allow their kids to knock on strangers’ doors and accept sweets from what could quite possibly be peadophile boogermen?
Discuss.
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Dave Semple said,
October 31, 2009 at 9:56 pm
You never went trick or treating did you?
I used to love it. Really hot older girls used to take some of us younger boys out, which was nice. We used to collect sweets and money from the whole neighbourhood. Which was even better.
Like we cared who the neighbours were!
Paul Sagar said,
November 1, 2009 at 1:35 am
Dave, i hope you realize you were being conditioned by the capitalist system for a lifetime of material acquisition which could only be fulfiled by selling your surplus labour to those owning the means of production.
And no, I didn’t go trick or treating as a kid. And I’m damn proud of it.
links for 2009-10-31 « Rumblegumption said,
November 1, 2009 at 1:41 am
[...] On Trick or Treating « Bad Conscience [...]
Peter said,
November 1, 2009 at 1:57 am
1.
Undoubtedly.
franlydie said,
November 1, 2009 at 11:12 am
It all depends on the neighbourhood in which you live; this week I had a mixture of sweet little neighbour kids, all dressed up – which must have taken hours, with either mothers or polite teenagers accompanying them on the one hand, and on the other threatening feral little horrors, wearing just masks (three days before Halloween as well!) from the nearby council estate.
Duncan said,
November 2, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Really hot older girls used to take some of us younger boys out
I feel like I missed out on an important experience when Trick or Treating…
Derek said,
November 2, 2009 at 7:35 pm
An American import to England maybe, but in Scotland and no doubt Ireland it is alive and well, and I hope in its original form of performing a trick to get a treat. I spend many Halloweens as a kid wandering round the neighbours houses dressed up, going in, telling a story or joke, or singing a song before being given something for the effort. It built community, confidence and was just good fun.
Put me firmly in camp 2.