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itsaboutpasta t1_iufvapq wrote

I’m only in my 30s but i get very “when I was a kid…” and upset about how Halloween is now like a month long event. Why are there Trunk or Treats a week before Halloween? How can a town just change the holiday and force trick or treating on a weekend because it’s more convenient? And a very safe suburb next to me has a curfew in place tomorrow night starting at 7pm, unless you’re accompanied by an adult. Now if you’ll excuse me there’s some kids I have to tell to get off my lawn 😂

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chrisms150 t1_iug5h95 wrote

I'm right there with you.

I'm not in Jersey anymore (sorry... I have PA plates... I'm so sorry.) - but my area has NO trick or treating at all. Not a single kid has rung my doorbell in 3 fucking years. I fucking hate how we've gotten rid of kids being kids in every aspect - halloween included.

Please. I have a bunch of full-sized bars just in case - save me from my fatness! Come ring my door with awesome costumes!

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oatmealparty t1_iug5yej wrote

Probably all going to trunk or treat events instead, because the parents are all lazy paranoid losers. Trunk or treating is just depressing to me

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stricklandfritz t1_iug8u1t wrote

I like the idea of alternative trick or treating (mall trick or treating, trunk or treat, etc) as options for kids who live in areas where trick or treating isn't safe. But having it for kids who live in the suburbs with easy access to safe walkable trick or treating streets... It just feels unnecessary

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oatmealparty t1_iugbxyf wrote

Yeah it makes sense in rural areas where you don't have sidewalks and it's impractical to walk or drive to people's houses but I see people talking about trunk or treating in Bayonne and Jersey City and Lyndhurst and it's like... why?

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ScumbagMacbeth t1_iujgoct wrote

It's totally weird to me to have it in Jersey City because like half of all households don't even own cars.

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Kinoblau t1_iugls58 wrote

I hated both trunk or treats and mall trick or treating when I was a kid. Could not stand either. Being out in the neighborhood running door to door with every other kid in the town is like 60% of the fun of Halloween.

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WredditSmark t1_iuikc9x wrote

Trunk or treating is also good for those with disabilities 👍

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The_Wee t1_iug7kf0 wrote

I remember when I was younger, we'd sometimes go trick or treating at malls. But now, Monmouth Mall might as well go all in and be a haunted house (improvement over ghost town).

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OkBid1535 t1_iuh300x wrote

Top comment right here. Monmouth mall could be a spirit Halloween and the rest of the mall be the haunted house haha

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RosaKlebb t1_iuhvb0k wrote

Preach, the glazed over tablet generation just is getting beelined into being weird indoor bubble kids, hell more than half these kids don’t even say Trick or Treat at the door anymore and kinda just blankly stare there awkwardly.

I’m not knocking logistics stuff where Trunk or Treat or a communal party, parade thing makes a lot of sense, but I find it so weird how much has gotten sucked out of a lot of normal ordinary flow of Halloween and trick or treating. It genuinely seems like something that kids don’t even really care about.

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itsaboutpasta t1_iug8ss8 wrote

You gonna drop your address…….? Full size candy bar houses were the ultimate trick or treat spot growing up.

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daedalus_was_right t1_iugqpvm wrote

>3 fucking years

Hmm, I wonder if there was something going on in the entire world that made it deadly to come into close proximity with large amounts of strangers...

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KneeDeepInTheDead t1_iuiq14d wrote

Im in NJ and a kid hasnt rung my bells in years, had to be before Sandy. Probably doesnt help that I dont have any decorations up, but when I was a kid I literally rung every bell on the street.

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kittyglitther t1_iufvh2k wrote

Also in 30s, also ready to get all "get off my lawn" about this nonsense.

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BYNX0 t1_iug5dvv wrote

7pm curfew? That’s ridiculous. If they said 9, I’d be in support of that 100%

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ShadowSwipe t1_iuge4vr wrote

One bad thing happens one time and you get all kinds of extremist zealots going "we can never let it happen again" and that's how these stupid rules end up inconveniencing everyone in some ridiculous way.

At some point we need to accept that sometimes, bad things might happen, and not everything can be fixed to be "perfectly splendid", especially not without removing normalcy. One bad incident does not neccesarily mean everyone else in your town needs to change their way of life to make sure it never happens again. A 7PM kid curfew on Halloween is ridiculous. People need to stop with the hopeless pursuit of making the world completely grey and bland with such stupid ordinances/laws. It's hard to argue against pursuing "making things better" so a lot of people just passively accept these extremist approaches and it never stops until you have no semblance of normal left. I've seen this type of attitude in businesses, I've seen it in HOA's, I've seen it in legislative bodies. They always end up worse off and no one can explain how they ended up there.

It reminds me of The Giver.

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OkBid1535 t1_iuh39mq wrote

My sister lives on base on McGuire and they have a 2 hour window to trick or treat from 5-7. When she told me that, bragging like it was some wonderful rule. I said “yeah us free American civilians can go out starting at 3pm if we so feel like it and we can end at 8…you can keep your two hours I’m going to let my kids be kids and go out as long as there little hearts and feet desire. My kids say there feet hurt and we stop and that could be 4 hours into our adventure, like yesterday.

A curfew or weird block of time to go is ridiculous in my opinion.

Also I agree with other commenters. There is zero need for multiple trunk or treats on every weekend leading up to Halloween. Especially here in Tom’s river. Walking is accessible all over this town and it’s just laziness to have so many trunk or treats.

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jailguard81 t1_iuhe0zt wrote

2hrs? Not sure how that’s bragging. military rules sounds like communism. we go at like 4-8. Or when kids get tired. You’re not gonna get enough candy in 2 hrs 🤣

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OkBid1535 t1_iui18gs wrote

Exactly! I laughed so hard when she tried to “sell” there trick or treating, as if it’s some wonderful perk your allowed only 2 hours to enjoy trick or treating. Give me a break!!! I heard hours are between 2-8 pm in most towns, some from 2-9. Allow people to go when the hell they want, not some time slot.

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jailguard81 t1_iuibpap wrote

Yea that’s the thing about military is that they enforce a lot of rules and can be very strict. I was in it for 20 years and I’m so glad I was done with that part of my life 😂 no freedom what so ever. You go home when they tell u u can go home. there is no 9-5 or whatever your set schedule is lol

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BYNX0 t1_iugkpul wrote

Very true, i can relate to your comment. I need to start referencing the giver more

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Ezl t1_iuhpflr wrote

What’s the “one bad thing?”

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ShadowSwipe t1_iuij93d wrote

It's just a general statement as what typically drives these types of rules. One rare terrible thing happens and everyone goes on a crusade to change everything to attempt to make sure nothing terrible ever happens again. Don't get me wrong, there are of course many things that are in fact worth fixing but some people don't understand that not every bad incident ought to require some sweeping solution in a senseless pursuit to make sure everyone is 100% perfectly safe, or tidy, or happy, etc. Sometimes, bad things happen, and we have to accept that and move on.

I don't know what specifically drove the 7PM curfew in this case, but based on the ridiculous nature of the rule, I can only assume the justification is equally bad.

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Ezl t1_iuizrsh wrote

Oh gotcha. I totally get what you mean but I asked because in other instances (I suspect this one included) the “one bad thing” never even happens, it’s just some weird, unjustified fear. Like, we all know about the “razor blade in an apple” fear but that literally never happened anywhere. But parents have checked their kids candy for decades. This year there was the rumor that drug dealers were (for some reason) disguising fentanyl as candy and giving it to kids which, of course, makes no sense.

So I totally get what you were saying and agree that it happens but I’d bet this 7pm curfew is more the result of baseless fear than any specific event.

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PurpleSailor t1_iuh3gst wrote

We used to head out at 6:30 or 7 and quit around 9. But then again I think my generation was the last of the free range kids.

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SMODomite t1_iuhhkkk wrote

I think 8 is the sweet spot...Gotta watch the Phils!

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BYNX0 t1_iuhjz1p wrote

Stopping at 8 may be reasonable, but it’s still too early for a forced end time

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WredditSmark t1_iuik8oj wrote

What’s funny is in my town the Boy Scouts did a thing in the big park and they had a massive sign that said ABSOLUTELY NO TRUNK OR TREAT NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC and I just thought that was funny.

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