Granted Halloween is over but I just over heard a coworker telling another coworker of a "neat" new concept for trick or treating. The idea is that families drive their car to a parking lot (church, grocery store, etc) and park. Instead going from "house to house", childeren can go from "car to car" to collect candy. This way all of the kids are safely within the boundries/confines of the parking lot.
Call me an idiot but I just about fell on the floor when I heard this. My first thought was, this is what's wrong with middle America. Some clever suburbanite came up with this idea thinking that they'll "keep the kids safe", don't have to walk very far, well lit, yadda yadda yadda. Does anyone else find this repulsive? His final reply was "What a neat idea!". I wanted to turn around am slap the guy.
They used to do this at some churches when I lived in Raleigh. I suppose it was out of concern for safety of the children, but I thought the whole thing was just depressing. I mean, how much more sanitized (and lazy) does it get then dressing your kids up and making them go trick-or-treating in a parking lot? Talk about robbing them of a seminal childhood memory. Sure, most people don't turn their kids loose in the neighborhood like they do on television - heck, I'm sure most of middle America does not live in a neighborhood where they even know their neighbors, or where the children could walk to a substantial number of houses - but it just seems so terribly wrong. Neat my ass.
How is it safer for kids to go trick or treating between parked cars? Dose everyone arrive at the same time and at the sound of the gunshot all car doors open?
Parking lots are good places to have sex in cars. Now I'm all for mixed-use projects, but I don't see trick or treating working in those conditions....
But seriously, ether, it is a repulsive idea. And sad, that people are so scared of the world - and scared to meet their neighbors!
I thought the same thing, mleitner.. i could just see it now.. the demise of the trick or treating in parking lots - on the national news a story of a todler mowed over by some unaware parent. all of a sudden people will realise what a stupid idea it was..
but the larger issue in my mind is the... scared of the world issue lb mentioned. It just screams introverted.
i can't think of much that would be more dangerous than a parking lot full of minivans stuffed with screaming sugar-addled kids and their stressed-out parents all trying for the nearest exit in the dark.
but it'd sure be fun to watch from atop a scissor lift with a nice glass of chianti...
this reminds me of a discussion we've had in a local blog recently about parents driving carloads of kids into neighborhoods for trick or treating. not a bad idea for those who live in a shitty neighborhood - but there seems to be more parents who will crawl along the curb in the cars so they don't have to walk and the kids don't have to walk between blocks.
it makes me sad that one day my kids will be friends with parents who would be proponents of such a sad idea.
it makes me even more sad that i (and hopefully my wife) will be in the minority of thinking this is a sad idea should the day come... and even more sad still to thus feel so alienated
I always thought (I now realize) that the whole trick or treat habit was kind of creepy (if you will) -- kind of a grade school play turned out into the street in the night, with greed and implied (or real) extortion, plus tummy-ache and possible tooth decay. For what ? But maybe I'm just a grouch. . .
Anyway, the above nonsense is what it's come to. Sad and funny both, I guess.
Maybe they've finally realized that their communities are like neatly organized parking lots for indistinguishable homes, and this will add some depth to their kids' door-to-door experience? Sounds like a pedophile's dream come true...hope they pick a parking lot with security cameras and good lighting.
ok, so we got in our car and took our kids (at their request) trick or treating in a church parking lot. It was the popular church in our town so both of our kids (and us) knew quite a few people. There was about 20 cars with an aisle between. Most of the car trunks were decorated and manned with people in costume. They also had hot dogs and hot chocolate.
We went there after beating the streets for over an hour noticing that in our small (safe, midwestern) town, about 50% fewer houses on our normal route were lit up and ready for trick or treaters.
Yes, the parking lot was a discouraging experience. Our kids didn't seem to get much out of it. We stayed for about 20 minutes then left.
It just seemed to me to be a blatant "outreach" - come to our church cause we do the cool halloween in the parking lot, etc. Not particularly spiritual.
We had zero annoying teenagers without costumes knocking on our doors at 9pm this year. I attribute it to the "official" hours Indy set for trick or treating this year - I think it was 6-8pm only. We had one kid at 8:15, and she was about 3; her parents both were dressed as if they had just come from work, so obviously they got home late and took her out. It wasn't a problem and was very sweet.
In Philly I hated being home on Halloween for exactly the reason mentioned above - I'd hibernate inside with the lights off about 10 minutes after the sun set. And that always made me sad, but the holiday was clearly poisoned by people looking for free candy, not interested in celebrating any kind of holiday.
Here in my current neighborhood, as I posted on the Halloween candy thread, trick or treating this year was damn close to a Frank Capra film. And I do credit Indy's "official" hours with making it so pleasant (along with a great family-friendly inner ring suburban neighborhood).
parents should walk with the kids then in the neighborhoods
problem in detroit is half of the block is missing and about 20% of the remaining house is giving candy..... so per block you might get 10 pieces of candy max.......
i usta hang in the rich burbs and get the candy bars...... i bag snatched a few times...... damn i'm a punk........
because our detroit neighborhood has a good rep with the local kids, we get them coming in in packs of twenty to thirty kids. the first year we lived here we bought three bags of candy, and it was gone in less than a half hour. i had to run to cvs to restock. twice. i like seeing the kids, even the ones without costumes. it's a shame that more houses don't participate in halloween, forcing kids and families into the pathetic scenario ether described.
i'm not sure that trick-or-treating in a parking lot is any worse than drinking beer and grilling hot dogs (i.e., tailgating).
all of you haters of the park-n-treat scenario sound like a bunch of pretensous/nostalgic new urbanists who are only capable of viewing america's surprisingly fluid traditions via the perspective sold to us by the sanitized hollywood image mashin.
Next year i'm headed straight for a parking in the best zip code i can find.
Hey, I've got it: Let's go right to the really safe "new tradition," Halloween on Second Life. No razor blades in the candy apples, no nasty pedophiles -- no actual human contact at all -- plus unlimited costuming ideas and calorie-free "sweets." Fluid traditions rule !
The joy of parking lots
Granted Halloween is over but I just over heard a coworker telling another coworker of a "neat" new concept for trick or treating. The idea is that families drive their car to a parking lot (church, grocery store, etc) and park. Instead going from "house to house", childeren can go from "car to car" to collect candy. This way all of the kids are safely within the boundries/confines of the parking lot.
Call me an idiot but I just about fell on the floor when I heard this. My first thought was, this is what's wrong with middle America. Some clever suburbanite came up with this idea thinking that they'll "keep the kids safe", don't have to walk very far, well lit, yadda yadda yadda. Does anyone else find this repulsive? His final reply was "What a neat idea!". I wanted to turn around am slap the guy.
one more way for detroit to remake the world in its image
welcome to detroit, ether.
i'm all in favor of innovative use or reuse of parking lots, but that's pretty lame.
They used to do this at some churches when I lived in Raleigh. I suppose it was out of concern for safety of the children, but I thought the whole thing was just depressing. I mean, how much more sanitized (and lazy) does it get then dressing your kids up and making them go trick-or-treating in a parking lot? Talk about robbing them of a seminal childhood memory. Sure, most people don't turn their kids loose in the neighborhood like they do on television - heck, I'm sure most of middle America does not live in a neighborhood where they even know their neighbors, or where the children could walk to a substantial number of houses - but it just seems so terribly wrong. Neat my ass.
you kids want some candy....
Please explain this to me:
How is it safer for kids to go trick or treating between parked cars? Dose everyone arrive at the same time and at the sound of the gunshot all car doors open?
i don't know if its safer, but it's faster, and detroit has always been more interested in all things fast than all things safe
Parking lots are good places to have sex in cars. Now I'm all for mixed-use projects, but I don't see trick or treating working in those conditions....
But seriously, ether, it is a repulsive idea. And sad, that people are so scared of the world - and scared to meet their neighbors!
solution to all evil:
eTickorTreat
I thought the same thing, mleitner.. i could just see it now.. the demise of the trick or treating in parking lots - on the national news a story of a todler mowed over by some unaware parent. all of a sudden people will realise what a stupid idea it was..
but the larger issue in my mind is the... scared of the world issue lb mentioned. It just screams introverted.
i can't think of much that would be more dangerous than a parking lot full of minivans stuffed with screaming sugar-addled kids and their stressed-out parents all trying for the nearest exit in the dark.
but it'd sure be fun to watch from atop a scissor lift with a nice glass of chianti...
this reminds me of a discussion we've had in a local blog recently about parents driving carloads of kids into neighborhoods for trick or treating. not a bad idea for those who live in a shitty neighborhood - but there seems to be more parents who will crawl along the curb in the cars so they don't have to walk and the kids don't have to walk between blocks.
I went trick or treating once.
can registered sex offenders still come as long as they put the "No Candy" sign on their Pinto?
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/11/national/main3356744.shtml
it makes me sad that one day my kids will be friends with parents who would be proponents of such a sad idea.
it makes me even more sad that i (and hopefully my wife) will be in the minority of thinking this is a sad idea should the day come... and even more sad still to thus feel so alienated
that's sad.
if you are so scared of the world, buy your kids a fuckin bag of candy and sit their fat asses down in front of the TV
I always thought (I now realize) that the whole trick or treat habit was kind of creepy (if you will) -- kind of a grade school play turned out into the street in the night, with greed and implied (or real) extortion, plus tummy-ache and possible tooth decay. For what ? But maybe I'm just a grouch. . .
Anyway, the above nonsense is what it's come to. Sad and funny both, I guess.
Maybe they've finally realized that their communities are like neatly organized parking lots for indistinguishable homes, and this will add some depth to their kids' door-to-door experience? Sounds like a pedophile's dream come true...hope they pick a parking lot with security cameras and good lighting.
it is a pedophiles dream come true ;)
ok, so we got in our car and took our kids (at their request) trick or treating in a church parking lot. It was the popular church in our town so both of our kids (and us) knew quite a few people. There was about 20 cars with an aisle between. Most of the car trunks were decorated and manned with people in costume. They also had hot dogs and hot chocolate.
We went there after beating the streets for over an hour noticing that in our small (safe, midwestern) town, about 50% fewer houses on our normal route were lit up and ready for trick or treaters.
Yes, the parking lot was a discouraging experience. Our kids didn't seem to get much out of it. We stayed for about 20 minutes then left.
It just seemed to me to be a blatant "outreach" - come to our church cause we do the cool halloween in the parking lot, etc. Not particularly spiritual.
'cause there aint no pedophiles in a church parking lot...
We had zero annoying teenagers without costumes knocking on our doors at 9pm this year. I attribute it to the "official" hours Indy set for trick or treating this year - I think it was 6-8pm only. We had one kid at 8:15, and she was about 3; her parents both were dressed as if they had just come from work, so obviously they got home late and took her out. It wasn't a problem and was very sweet.
In Philly I hated being home on Halloween for exactly the reason mentioned above - I'd hibernate inside with the lights off about 10 minutes after the sun set. And that always made me sad, but the holiday was clearly poisoned by people looking for free candy, not interested in celebrating any kind of holiday.
Here in my current neighborhood, as I posted on the Halloween candy thread, trick or treating this year was damn close to a Frank Capra film. And I do credit Indy's "official" hours with making it so pleasant (along with a great family-friendly inner ring suburban neighborhood).
parents should walk with the kids then in the neighborhoods
problem in detroit is half of the block is missing and about 20% of the remaining house is giving candy..... so per block you might get 10 pieces of candy max.......
i usta hang in the rich burbs and get the candy bars...... i bag snatched a few times...... damn i'm a punk........
b
because our detroit neighborhood has a good rep with the local kids, we get them coming in in packs of twenty to thirty kids. the first year we lived here we bought three bags of candy, and it was gone in less than a half hour. i had to run to cvs to restock. twice. i like seeing the kids, even the ones without costumes. it's a shame that more houses don't participate in halloween, forcing kids and families into the pathetic scenario ether described.
My mom bought ginger snap cookies -- kind of pumpkin-pie colored ? -- and drew faces on them with an cake-icing tool. Always the artist. . .
i'm not sure that trick-or-treating in a parking lot is any worse than drinking beer and grilling hot dogs (i.e., tailgating).
all of you haters of the park-n-treat scenario sound like a bunch of pretensous/nostalgic new urbanists who are only capable of viewing america's surprisingly fluid traditions via the perspective sold to us by the sanitized hollywood image mashin.
Next year i'm headed straight for a parking in the best zip code i can find.
Hey, I've got it: Let's go right to the really safe "new tradition," Halloween on Second Life. No razor blades in the candy apples, no nasty pedophiles -- no actual human contact at all -- plus unlimited costuming ideas and calorie-free "sweets." Fluid traditions rule !
mall trick or tricking is the way to go here in The Valley
What -- the stores give away candy to the kids in costumes ?
because you can't have to many shady van posts on this thread.
The Kids Go In -- But They Don't Come Out !
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.