Well, Halloween is on the horizon and apparently there won\u2019t be any \u2018Trick or Treating\u2019 in Shepherdstown in 2020. Of course, everything is screwed up, different, or just plain canceled this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyhow, that got me to thinking about Halloween and trick or treating\u2026 It seems like for a lot of years, trick or treat has only meant \u201ctreat.\u201d Whatever happened to the \u201ctrick\u201d part? When I was a kid, the idea was that when you said, \u201ctrick or treat\u201d the person was supposed to give you a treat, or you\u2019d play a trick on them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t think my kids, and certainly not my grandkids, ever thought of ‘trick or treat’ in those terms. I remember Halloween being a day (mostly night) to \u201cplay tricks.\u201d It was kind of like the one day (or night) in the year when it was ok to get into some mischief. In fact, we were probably masterminds of mischief.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Admittedly, some of our \u201ctricks\u201d got a little out of hand on occasion but I don\u2019t remember anyone ever getting hurt or causing any serious damage. One of the most popular \u201cmust do\u201d Halloween tricks was to turn over people\u2019s outhouses \u2014 I don\u2019t think any of them were anchored to the ground and they were easy to just push over. It was certainly annoying, but they were pretty easy to sit back up and if your outhouse didn\u2019t get turned over, you were surprised and probably wondered, \u201cwhy not?\u201d I remember some of the more common pranks that were pulled almost every Halloween included, tying doorknobs together or to something to keep the door from opening, soaping car (and downtown store) windows, taking rocking chairs from front porches and putting them on the roof, and letting pigs or chickens out of their pens, or stringing toilet paper over someone\u2019s lawn and trees, and maybe occasionally letting the air out of tires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I grew up, obviously I lived in a small community and essentially knew everyone in town. Often, it was the local grouch, or two, who was the brunt of most of the kids Halloween mischief. Usually, the kids would cause trouble and the adults would just smile guiltily to themselves, and were probably mostly amused by the shenanigans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the world has changed from when I was a kid \u2014 more and more people moved into crowded urban centers, full of big city problems like poverty, segregation and unemployment\u2026. and pranking took on a new edge, becoming more destructive and moe related to vandalism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As homeowners grew less patient, the risks for pranksters grew to include arrest or in some instances, even being shot. Communities initiated curfews, age limits for trick-or-treating, and intensified police patrols. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess today \u201ctricks\u201d still happen, but not regularly as I remember. The average child collecting candy on Halloween night doesn\u2019t understand the meaning of the phrase \u201c trick or treat\u201d anymore. I guess that\u2019s not a bad thing \u2014 it\u2019s probably a good thing.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Well, Halloween is on the horizon and apparently there won\u2019t be any \u2018Trick or Treating\u2019 in Shepherdstown in 2020. Of course, everything is screwed up, different, or just plain canceled this year.\u00a0 Anyhow, that got me to thinking about Halloween … Continue reading