Where Trick or Treating is Criminal

At 13 I went trick-or-treating.  I believe I hadn’t been out on Halloween since I was 9-years-old.

Howie Hardy and Jim Clark came by my house when I was in junior high school and insisted I join them.  They maintained it would be fun.

Not having a costume I snagged my dad’s old orange police raincoat and slapped one of his Stetsons atop my head.  We probably hadn’t even been to half-a-dozen houses when an old man stared us down on his porch.  “When I was your age, I had a job,” he growled.  It was embarrassing.  For me, anyway.  Jim and Howie made some wise guy comments in response and then we quickly got off the man’s property.

This week I was reading about some towns in Virginia where an age limit is strictly enforced for trick-or-treating.  You can click here and read the essay.  I tend to believe the older kids should stay home but I’m not sure government should be involved.  Kids going door-to-door aren’t knocking over headstones in cemeteries.  I’d leave the decision up to parents.