No Costume No Candy Policy Yea Or Nay?

[ThackeryBinxs]

I usually stand strong on this policy but as the years go by i see less and less kids dressing up and half of them don't say trick r treat or even a thank you which i could forgive if they dress up Now these teenagers and older people who come to my door with a attitude dressed in their street clothes claiming their rappers or thugs i will quickly say NO! but small kids sometimes their parents couldnt afford or want buy a costume and i feel sorry for them and i give it to them anyway When i was a kid me and my siblings would inprovise using old sheets,clothes and even my mom's makeup to make a costume one year i cut holes in a sheet and went as yellow floral print ghost it wasn't much but it was something now i feel like kids don't even try anymore and i've denied many kids candy and sometimes they look crushed but kids should earn that candy by first getting past my scary decor wear a costume and say trck or treat. If we dont enforce the rules and traditons of Halloween in ten years or so halloween will become free candy night were all you have to do is show up and ring the doorbell. I go through alot of trouble to put up decorations buy the best candy and wear a costume my self so i don't think it's to much to ask that you wear a costume do you?

[Pumpkin_Man]

That's a tough question to answer, becasue I see much of the same thing. Kids between the ages of 13 and 18 come to the door in street cloths, looking for some free candy. I have reluctantly given it to them, but the staunch traditionalist in me screams in my head against it. If nothing else, take a grocery bag, draw some lights and a tv monitor on it and go ToTing as a robot or something. Even the poorest of the poor can improvise, and I've seen some pretty creative costumes made from the cheapest items.

I'll probably give out candy to anyone who comes to the door, but I'm a lot more generous to those who keep TRADITION alive.

Mike

[ThackeryBinxs]

I like to give the jumbo and king size candy bars to the kids with homemade costumes sometimes the homemade ones are the best But i could never give a 18 yr old without costume candy but then theres always the risk they'll get pissed and trash your decorations but it's a risk i'll take

[jadewik]

I give one dinky candybar to kids not in costume and handfuls to those who are. If it's an older kid and they say "Thanks" I give them a little more candy as they're turning to leave. My husband and I also offer candy to adults in costume!

This year, I'll be in my new house... so I'm not sure who will come to the door.... or how many.... but my husband and I will be pirates and able to talk smack without worrying too much about tricks or treats.

What I hate are the kids who come by several times in the course of the evening. I've wizened up, though-- we hand out glow bracelets. If a kid comes by with a glow bracelet on or in their sack, we can usually tell whose house they've been to! I'm not fond of the complainers either... but I've got half a mind to take the candy back with a candy tax this year if they yammer! There be no back-talk to Keel-Hauled Kate!

The Long John Silver's near our house gives out a free combo meal to people who come into the store in costume after 5pm on Halloween-- it should be super-fun this year being PIRATES and all! Arrr! I can't wait!

[Pumpkin_Man]

An 18-year-old without a costume??? I've never had that happen before, but there's allways a first time.

But like you, I do tend to be a bit more generous with polite children who uphold the 'Trick or Treat" tradition by wearing a costume, saying "Trick or Treat" and then reply with a "Thank You."

The polite ones are more common in my town, fortunately. I've never had any really inpolite kids or complainers, but there were a couple last year around the age of 12 or 13, who were not in costume.

Mike

[DemonSlayerMau]

I tend to be pretty generous with giving out candy, but then again, I like to be nice and I like to avoid confrontation.
However, I do prefer if someone's in costume. If they make the effort to dress up, they deserve the candy.
Maybe I should be a little more stern this year. In this economy I can't afford people who aren't going to bother to at least TRY to celebrate and in it just for free candy.
Even if they're wearing a cheap costume from walmart or gosh even the dollar store, they've earned their candy far as I'm concerned.

[ThackeryBinxs]

Don't be afraid to put your foot down with those trick r treaters they should earn that candy but i know a gaggle of teenagers can be intimidating especially if their older ones like i get They've brought down their wrath upon a many of my pumpkins but most just mouthoff and move along. Good point about the economy I think i will be cutting back on the candy this year i always go to sam's club to get my candy they have these giant bags of candy i usually get 10 or so bags because i like to give out fistfulls of candy but at the end of the night i still have alot of candy leftover so i'll just cutback on that this year

[DemonSlayerMau]

Unfortunately I don't have Sam's club membership, but I've been to a sam's club before. My dad has membership far as I can remember, and I remember my grandparents used to.
I'd love to have membership there, because if I were to get food stamps when I move out that'd be the first place I would want to go! ould buy enough food to last me for the month!Hahaha.
In any case, last year I got two bags of mixed cheaper candy, and then I bought some snickers and a mixture of reeses candies and twix if I remember right.
I like to hand out the candy I like best last, so that way if there's something left over, it's the stuff I really like!
Yeah, well I'm short, and I tend to be intimidated by the teenagers, especially the really big ones. I won't turn down a little kid though. Sometimes I offer the parents some candy too.
I can try to put my foot down this year. No costume: No Candy. I'll give my grandma some though, it's HER house after all! If the teenagers are in costume, then that's different. You can be 100, in costume, and you get candy.

[ThackeryBinxs]

LOL! i dont think sam's club accepts food stamps and i know buying food in bulk sounds good but it gets old quick a memebership cost about 40 bucks a year i mostly shop there for the holidays and parties They have great halloween decor too i bought a large graveyard inflatable there last year

[Hallow's Queen]

Ifthe child has no costume because they can't afford it, or if there parents have weird rules about costumes or what not they will deffently get candy, any kid under 13 I will give candy. Anyone older then that not in a costume, won't get candy. But I find it quite humerous (since iI've done this before.) when teens dress up and get candy, I fully support that. But if the teens arn't dressed and they just want candy, no deal.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Okay, if some one tries to intimidate me, that's where I'll draw the line. Act threatening, and I'll send them all packing. I can understand concern for outdoor Halloween decorations and the like, but if kids, and I don't car how old or how big they are, want to make threats, that's just NOT going to fly.

Mike

[adrian]

i am an extreme traditionalist. i say costume for candy.. even the poorest and most unfortunate souls can come up with SOMETHING.. i am tired of seeing thugs 15 and older coming up to my house (which i spend a great deal of time on) with nothing more than gangster clothing and a wal-mart sack.. i will NOT give them ANYTHING. BUT i will make an exception based on my judgement on a younger child's situation.. its really all about feeling out the moment on this subject

[ThackeryBinxs]

Yeah the wal-mart sacks have got to stop you can get those plastic pumpkins buckets at the dollarstore for like 10c sometimes i have little halloween paper bags to give out I've seen kids with 18 gallon trash bags old coffe cans some use their shirt and sometimes they just hold out their hands i'd rather see a old pillow case then then a grocery store sack

[Pumpkin_Man]

Actualy, I use to use grocery store bags as part of my costume on some years. I also saw something quitte creative done with a grocery store sack once. It was panted totaly black, and huge orang letters "TRICK OR TREAT were stenciled on with orange glitter. Then there were pictures of ghosts, pumpkins on one side of the bad, and a pic of Saly and Linus in the pumpkin patchon the other. The kid was dressed up as a wearwolf. I asked him where he got such an elaborate ToT bag, and he said he made it himself from a grocery sack. I thought it was quite creative, so I gave him a piece 3 pieces of each kind of candy that I had. Nestles Crunch and Butterfinger.

Mike

[ThackeryBinxs]

Mike I was mostly talking about the older kids without costumes who just grabed a sack on the way out the door I would more then welcome kids with creative bags like the kid you described I love homemade costumes and stuff so if i saw a child with a big like that he or she would definitely be getting extra treats maybe even a jumbo bar i wish more kids would do things like that

Rodney