Halloween, 2021

I went to the store on Halloween looking for Halloween candy. They had other decorations, but no candy. I didn't see pumpkins either. I bought fun size Almond Joys and some Christmas candy. Thought about buying candy canes, but I assumed I'd have to eat them myself and I never liked those things.

I thought the lack of candy meant there would be no trick or treaters.

In the parking lot, there was a boy dressed as Elvis and a girl wearing a costume version of an old Girl Scout uniform, so I should have known there'd be trick or treating.

A large group came to the door.

"Take all you want!" I said. And one girl grabbed a huge handful. I didn't think they'd go for Almond Joys. Maybe she didn't know what they were. 

That one group cleaned out most of the candy. I opened the second bags.

Another group, all siblings I would imagine, took a large amount. One girl took a huge handful. Dropped one on the ground and instead of putting it in her bag returned it to the bowl.

Then some poor devil, may have been about eleven, came to the door in what looked like Batman pajamas. He was alone. I gave him his candy. Told him to take more.

In the past, I've had older or older-looking kids come to the door. The teenagers seem kind of embarrassed and will only take one. You have to encourage them. They are guests at your door and you should be polite.

I had a friend who trick-or-treated at sixteen because he needed the food. He was malnourished. He was arrested one night when he was thirteen while searching for food in a dumpster. He thought they would feed him in juvenile detention but it was too late. Dinner was over. He thought he'd get to eat in the morning, but his otherwise negligent mother rushed down before breakfast to get him out.

Also, he was a potentially dangerous juvenile delinquent. When he said "trick or treat" he may have really meant it. Just give teenagers their candy and don't try to shame them.