Smack of Reality: Halloween: Should Trick-or-treating Be Banned?

This is a dumb idea. Should trick-or-treating be banned? This is ridiculous.

I see no reason for stopping trick-or-treating. It is a timeless Halloween tradition for the past several generations and I see no reason to end it.

The 70s and early 80s tried to end trick-or-treating. A few religious nut cases tried to sabotage it by putting razor blades in apples and tainted other types of food or candy in an effort to get people to end this holiday festivity. That is all that it was, just an attempt to end trick-or-treating by people who wanted to impose their will on the majority of people who enjoy the activity. Luckily, we all learned that it was only a few isolated incidents and most neighborhoods continued trick-or-treating.

Still, the sabotage cases did result in some people becoming paranoid for years. Some people, even today, are paranoid and won't let their children trick-or-treat. It is sad that a few crazies had to ruin it for many people.

I saw someone say that they want to ban trick-or-treating simply because some people are too tired to answer the door and give trick-or-treaters their candy or other goodies. This is a stupid argument because, if you do not want to give candy out, you can just not answer the door, turn the lights out, or put up a sign that says that you are not participating on your door. It is really simple. Just because you cannot answer the door does not mean that other people do not want to either.

That person said that the elderly and disabled cannot answer the door. Well, I am disabled and I know other disabled people, who love Halloween and trick-or-treating. Many of them sit on their porch to greet trick-or-treaters and pass out candy. So, obviously, this person's argument is not always true.

There is an episode of the 80s TV show, Tales of the Darkside, in which a crabby, old man hates trick-or-treaters. So, one Halloween when he is left at home alone, the old man passes out bags of garbage and candy covered with goo to trick-or-treaters. It does it to a few kids and then an evil troll shows up on his doorstep and the old man dies of a heart attack.

Next time you want to try to stop trick-or-treating, remember the above TV show and pass out candy like a good little old person or a troll might show up on your doorstep too.