Remember When
in LA, the poor neighborhoods bus kids to the better
neighborhoods for trick or treat. So you get a hundred
inner city kids at your door that you've never seen
before and half of them are 15 years old. So you get
maybe 25% on the houses even participating. Who
can blame them.
10 years old was the cutoff in the 50's 60's. If you were
a big 10, tough luck. And if the people at the house
didn't know you, often you got squat. In your own
neighborhood. On the plus side, almost every house
on every street gave out candy, you could hit 4-5 streets
and fill a shopping bag. Good stuff, full size candy bars
and boxes of Milk Duds.
And you never saw a parent with his kid, the little ones
went with the older kids. Now the parents cruise the
street in the minivan, with the other parent goes door
to door with the brat. It's just nuts the paranoia that's
out there.
didn't know you, often you got squat."
Bob, nobody knows the kids in their neighborhood now. How could they? The kids at always home playing video games or texting.
And some political correct idiots give out fruits , yogurt , or a heathy snack .
Quote: Buzzard" And if the people at the house
didn't know you, often you got squat."
Bob, nobody knows the kids in their neighborhood now. How could they? The kids at always home playing video games or texting.
And some political correct idiots give out fruits , yogurt , or a heathy snack .
At the house in the old neighborhood (I just sold it), the kids were bussed in most years. It was a limited-access but not gated neighborhood, mostly family homes. We usually had at least 200 kids, and topped 300 one year. I'm in this house for the first Hallowe'en I've been home tonight, and not a single kid knocked on the door. Now what am I going to do with all this damned chocolate?
Quote: beachbumbabsNow what am I going to do with all this damned chocolate?
Start your new eating plan.
Say hello to diabetes.
Quote: beachbumbabsNow what am I going to do with all this damned chocolate?
Save it for Christmas and stuff stockings with it. Oh,
wait, you can eat it!
Never mind.
Quote: EvenBobSome guy on TV was just complaining that for years
in LA, the poor neighborhoods bus kids to the better
neighborhoods for trick or treat. So you get a hundred
inner city kids at your door that you've never seen
before and half of them are 15 years old. So you get
maybe 25% on the houses even participating. Who
can blame them.
Same thing happened in Rochester, my co-worker said they bussed kids to her neighborhood and it was insane. Of all of my adult life I think I gave out candy twice. I bug-out. Last night may be the only predictable night of the year when you can check out at WMT in less than 10 minutes.
Quote:10 years old was the cutoff in the 50's 60's. If you were
a big 10, tough luck. And if the people at the house
didn't know you, often you got squat.
I self-excluded after 8th grade. Actually I stopped at grade 7 but the next year I was pressed to go with my younger siblings but that was it. I was amazed how many students at my HS went! I was always like, "are you still children?" But people want to be children for as long as possible these days. I didn't like being a kid or Halloween so dropping it was easy for me.
Quote:And you never saw a parent with his kid, the little ones
went with the older kids. Now the parents cruise the
street in the minivan, with the other parent goes door
to door with the brat. It's just nuts the paranoia that's
out there.
In my buddies neighborhood the parents come with the kids because half the houses have beer for the parents! But he is in a well-off neighborhood where if they try to bus kids in they will be bussed to out to county.
Good times. :)
---
Last year, Hurricane Sandy. The year before, a Nor'Easter dumped a ton of snow.
This was the first good Halloween in three years.
Last night, our doorbell rang only 6 times for about 30 kids.
Sigh.
Weather was alot warmer than last year, prompting kids to stay out longer.
Second, I remember mobs of kids hammering all the houses. It was a very rare thing to see a house not decorated and unopen to trick or treaters. Now, kids are seemingly hussled and bustled into one small group that hits one small area of town in some sort of "safe zone" that has none of the "voyaging travel" aspect to it. It's just a generic lot or block of town, nothing like meandering every street on the edge of town trying to maximize your take.
Third, kids are being driven house to house by doting parents. WTF is that mess? We used to have "grown ups" that would either escort small armies, or who would stand vigil at intersections, but otherwise it was the kids who ran the show. Now, it's one kid being toted by one parent from the car to the house and back to the car, only to pull up to the next house and do it again. WTF.
Fourth, trick or treating always ended up back in town where there was a big, family friendly party, usually at the firehall, VFW, Legion, or other community center. Musical chairs, bobbing for apples, hide and seek, whatever. The kids ran wild, showing off their costumes, falling into whatever character they happened to be. Now, again, the kids are just hustled and bustled individually by neurotic, paranoid helicopter parents. So disappointing.
Quote: Face
Third, kids are being driven house to house by doting parents. WTF is that mess? We used to have "grown ups" that would either escort small armies, or who would stand vigil at intersections, but otherwise it was the kids who ran the show. Now, it's one kid being toted by one parent from the car to the house and back to the car, only to pull up to the next house and do it again. WTF.
Are you serious? So glad I have not seen this.
Quote: AZDuffmanAre you serious? So glad I have not seen this.
I came home from work and thought there was a yard sale going on. Nope, just a train of "commuting trick or treaters". Keep in mind, I live on a street of about 20 houses on which only residents of those 20 houses drive on. No thru traffic whatsoever. A car passes my house at a rate of about 1 every 2 hours at an average of 15mph. And it was about 60* out. And daylight.
Garbage.
Quote: FaceI'm probably one of the least removed from Halloween age, and even I notice a huge difference. First, our ventures where always done in the dark, at night. 6-7-8pm, no problem. Nowadays, kids are doing it at 3-4p and everyone's off the street by dusk.
Second, I remember mobs of kids hammering all the houses. It was a very rare thing to see a house not decorated and unopen to trick or treaters. Now, kids are seemingly hussled and bustled into one small group that hits one small area of town in some sort of "safe zone" that has none of the "voyaging travel" aspect to it. It's just a generic lot or block of town, nothing like meandering every street on the edge of town trying to maximize your take.
Third, kids are being driven house to house by doting parents. WTF is that mess? We used to have "grown ups" that would either escort small armies, or who would stand vigil at intersections, but otherwise it was the kids who ran the show. Now, it's one kid being toted by one parent from the car to the house and back to the car, only to pull up to the next house and do it again. WTF.
Fourth, trick or treating always ended up back in town where there was a big, family friendly party, usually at the firehall, VFW, Legion, or other community center. Musical chairs, bobbing for apples, hide and seek, whatever. The kids ran wild, showing off their costumes, falling into whatever character they happened to be. Now, again, the kids are just hustled and bustled individually by neurotic, paranoid helicopter parents. So disappointing.
It is crazy and disappointing. I am 33, and I can remember back when I was 10. It would start out in the morning by dressing up in our costumes. We would go to school dressed up and have a Halloween party. we would get home, eat dinner and wait for it to get dark. As soon as it was dusk I would leave home without any parents and meet up with friends. We would literally run from house to house and fill our pillow case up. We would have it routed so that we could stop by one of our houses and get a fresh empty pillow case. We would stay out until people turned their lights off which was usually after 10pm. We would then go back to one of our houses and sort our score and make trades.
Now, our schools don't have parties. Kids are not allowed to go to school dressed up and FORGET about having any kind of fake weapon or mask on. Trick or treating starts at 5 and ends at 7 and more than half of the houses don't give out anything. Part of that reason is like mentioned above; All of the parents are out with their kids so there is no one to hand out candy.
I know times are changing but there are some aspects that just make me sad.
Quote: boymimboIt was a busy night here in my neighborhood with about 100 kids. Last year we had 60. We ran low on candy prompting me to go and grab a bit more. My daughter, who on Halloween reverts from the 15 year old (thinking she's 21) to a 10 year old. She only went to a few houses. She has yet to realize the obvious link between grease and acne, but kids are stupid, even my own.
Weather was alot warmer than last year, prompting kids to stay out longer.
Wow, we only had two groups come to the door the whole night.
Quote: Face
the kids are just hustled and bustled individually by neurotic, paranoid helicopter parents. So disappointing.
That's because the media has parents convinced there's
a drooling pervert behind every bush, waiting to snatch
their little darling. When the truth is, there aren't any more
now that then was in the 50's. In fact there may be less, because
of all the publicity they get. We never worried about stuff like that.
Our parents told us never talk to strangers and they
relied on our judgement. Kids are too stupid to have good judgement
these days, apparently.
Quote: FaceI came home from work and thought there was a yard sale going on. Nope, just a train of "commuting trick or treaters". Keep in mind, I live on a street of about 20 houses on which only residents of those 20 houses drive on. No thru traffic whatsoever. A car passes my house at a rate of about 1 every 2 hours at an average of 15mph. And it was about 60* out. And daylight.
Garbage.
So they drive the kids to get candy, then we wonder why the kids are obese?
As I have kept saying, I never liked any part of Halloween even as a kid. And I was asked again today how that is possible. But I still know the difference between how it was and the nonsense we have today.
Young kids are the funniest, because they can be shy. They're told their entire small lives not to talk to strangers, and then it's a night for breaking the rules to get candy.
As for time of day, our first kid was at the door around 5:30 and it was a steady stream until about 7:30. Keep in mind that Daylight savings time at Halloween has only been around for a short time (since Bush). When we were young, we always were out at dark because it got dark at 5:15. We had lots of youngsters being accompanied by parents.
Quote: boymimboand there's an opportunity to get on a bus to grab a pile of chocolate, I'd be on the bus.
No doubt. But people like giving candy to kids they
know, in their own neighborhoods. It's not a welfare
holiday, as you seem to think it is.
Quote: GWAEI am 33, and I can remember back when I was 10.
I'll be 33 tomorrow, and my memories are the exact same as yours. Halloween was an all night thing, where kids were just set loose. Kids ran the town, ran themselves.
Now, someone is running them everywhere. Shame.
Quote: boymimboI'm failing to understand why one wouldn't appluad the free-enterprise spirit of taking candy by going to the richer neighborhoods to grab a better stash. When I was a kid, we knew from experience that some streets were better than others because more people celebrated Halloween on that street or the houses were closer together or that that street didn't have community housing. We didn't just go off randomly. We had a plan, especially the older we got. It's about the return. So, if you're a kid who lives in a poor neighborhood where the candy is crap, and there's an opportunity to get on a bus to grab a pile of chocolate, I'd be on the bus. It's the capitalist thing to do. The socialist thing to do would be to sit at home and wait for candy to arrive!
Well, Halloween isn't about free enterprise, unless you consider mafia extortion free enterprise. It is "trick" or "treat." Meaning if you give no treat a "trick" will be played on you. Nothing of value is offered by the kids getting the candy. Exchange of value is a requirement of free-enterprise. It is not capitalist to teach someone to merely look for the best handout.
Actually the entire thing is a lesson in why the current situation in the USA will eventually collapse the entire thing. Kids don't like the candy in their neighborhoods, so they go to the better neighborhoods. The people in the "rich neighborhoods" start getting sick of it so they just sit out the entire thing, and nobody gets any candy. Similarly, tax rates on high earners that make the government not much more than a common looter mean the wealthy will start just sitting out the whole thing, meaning less wealth for everyone.
I can see the answer, though. Just require everyone to hand out good candy. Bars would have to be a certain size, etc. If not you would have to pay a fine. The fine would be used to give away even more candy. How coluld this fail?
Quote: AZDuffman
Actually the entire thing is a lesson in why the current situation in the USA will eventually collapse the entire thing. Kids don't like the candy in their neighborhoods, so they go to the better neighborhoods. The people in the "rich neighborhoods" start getting sick of it so they just sit out the entire thing, and nobody gets any candy.
The fact the Boymimbo see's nothing wrong with
busing kids to good neighborhoods speaks volumes
about who he is and where he lives. It's just not
'fair', so go where people have more money and
sponge off them. Don't improve your own lives
and neighborhoods, get somebody else to foot the
bill. It's called having a socialist attitude.
We are born with nothing and we will die with nothing. If I can better the lives of others by working hard and sacrificing a bit and still live comfortably, so be it. I billed 58 hours this week, earning my company $12,000 in revenue, some of which will go towards Larry's boat, and haven't collected a cent of government handouts (besides what is allowed on a tax return) in my life. I'm lucky. Yeah, I have a socialist heart. So did Jesus. (and as AZ will point out, so did Castro)
My point about the kids hold. For the people in rich neighborhoods who don't want the riff-raff there, just count your lucky stars that they're not there every day. They were enterprising enough to go out and find the rich neighborhoods, now that's using your noggin.
Quote: boymimboThey were enterprising enough to go out and find the rich neighborhoods, now that's using your noggin.
That's what socialists do, find the people who are
smarter than them and take their money. They're
trained to do that, like truffle rooting hogs.
Now cops make headlines with special No Trick or Treating: Molester Lives Here signs and try to get the activity limited to daylight hours with a string of adults in attendance.
I doubt there was one case nationwide of razors in apples but all apples and candy bars were examined by parents for awhile.
I wonder if Boston still has girls in their 20s dressing up as silent movie Vamps and weilding mile-long cigarette holders and boas that don't cover nothin' at all. Now that used to be fun trick or treating!! The men sure gave them lots of candy too! Made up for all the little brats they had to give candy to.
Quote: EvenBobThat's what socialists do, find the people who are
smarter than them and take their money. They're
trained to do that, like truffle rooting hogs.
Isn't this kind of the same principle how leeches survive?
My point is that is is very likely that rich people became rich because their parents were rich, could afford to put them in nice schools, and give them an advantage because their parents chose to stay together. Hard work of course may have had something to do with it. Meanwhile, the people born with a rough life have a harder time digging out because they went to crappy schools, had divorced parents, and spent their youth trying to keep it together rather than focus on their studies.
People are born into the situation they are in. Genetically, they may not be capable of being smart. We make the grand assumption that we're all born equal. We're not. Our parents and where we live and the fortunes and misfortunes of random chance play a major influence on how our lives are going to turn out. For myself (and most of my neighbors in this well-to-do neighborhood), I turned out on the very positive side of variance.
But I also understand that alot of that positive variance was because of the initial conditions that I was born into. I was born with a free Ace and a six foot crap table. I could easily influence those dice. Other people are born with a 20 or 30 foot table with crooked dice and a free Six that they had to use.
My knowledge that I am lucky drives a soft spot in my heart for the less fortunate.
Quote: boymimboOddSinker makes a good point.
My point is that is is very likely that rich people became rich because their parents were rich, could afford to put them in nice schools, and give them an advantage because their parents chose to stay together. Hard work of course may have had something to do with it. Meanwhile, the people born with a rough life have a harder time digging out because they went to crappy schools, had divorced parents, and spent their youth trying to keep it together rather than focus on their studies.
People are born into the situation they are in. Genetically, they may not be capable of being smart. We make the grand assumption that we're all born equal. We're not. Our parents and where we live and the fortunes and misfortunes of random chance play a major influence on how our lives are going to turn out. For myself (and most of my neighbors in this well-to-do neighborhood), I turned out on the very positive side of variance.
But I also understand that alot of that positive variance was because of the initial conditions that I was born into. I was born with a free Ace and a six foot crap table. I could easily influence those dice. Other people are born with a 20 or 30 foot table with crooked dice and a free Six that they had to use.
My knowledge that I am lucky drives a soft spot in my heart for the less fortunate.
boymimbo,
I looked back a bit to see what Oddsinker said and couldn't find it (you may be making a pun I'm not getting). But your post stands on its own anyway.
I was not born rich. But I was born with many gifts, and I have been lucky enough to take enough advantage of some of them that I can be considered rich in many ways. I am often led to counting my blessings, and they are many, when transient circumstances seem everlasting. So I think your post is an important one and expresses much of my own worldview. Thanks.
Sinker/Bobber
;)
Quote: FaceOdd/Even
Sinker/Bobber
;)
LMAO! Thanks for the clue-in!
Quote: boymimboI'm failing to understand why one wouldn't appluad the free-enterprise spirit of taking candy by going to the richer neighborhoods to grab a better stash.
Ah yes, America, the Land of Opportunity.
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."
Oh wait a minute, wrong country.
Never mind.
Quote: Dicenor33Socialism works among people who trust each other and don't steal from each other. But it's human nature try not to work and at the same time rip all the benefits of a hard working person. Capitalism thrives on greed and exploitation, but that's what we are, at least most of us, and if we had a chance not to work and make a lot of money at the same time, we would, like it or not.
I think there are alot of people with a socialist ilk who actually work very hard that don't feel badly about having the bulk of their income go to the government for redistribution. The United States used to have marginal tax rates higher than 60% from the 1930s until the 1980s which the right on this site call the good-ol-days yet there were no cries of socialism back then and you didn't see the ultra-rich leave the country to pay lower taxes. They accepted the tax rate and made money anyway.
Extreme capitalism works the way you describe. Look at two very famous IT bosses. Bill Gates made a ton of money and was an extreme capitalist and the ruthless president of MicroSoft, amasses tens of billions of wealth, takes over smaller company using heavy handed tactics. Then, he founded the foundation and is using tens of billions of his money to help people in the third world and in your own country. Larry Ellison is of the same ilk, and he has signed the Giving Pledge (a promise to donate at least 50% of their net worth to chartiable causes), along with 67 other billionaires.
The point is that what makes America great is its capitalist nature AND its generousity from being the richest naiton on earth. The US has always been there first in the wake of disasters around the world and its chartitable causes by its citizens help hundred of millions worldwide.
Quote: MrVAh yes, America, the Land of Opportunity.
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."
Oh wait a minute, wrong country.
Never mind.
At the height of my earning power, and for more than a decade, I paid in the mid-tens of thousands in income taxes as well as exceeding the FICA cap. For my money, I got an air traffic service able to deploy necessary safety and security systems, an interstate highway system I used daily, airwaves I used daily, hundreds of other personal, community, and national benefits. I also got veterans' services for my 3 purple heart husband, social security widow's benefits for my mother, and widow's and orphans benefits and tax deductions for my sister with 4 minor children. I am now benefitting myself from my and others' contributions, as I collect social security and pension benefits in early retirement. (I paid extra during all my earning years to earn the early retirement, btw.)
I do not recall EVER complaining about the price of my being a contributing member of American taxpayers and in the top 5% bracket for much of it; that's what I signed up for, and my benefits have exceeded my contributions. America is a great place, not the evil Randian Empire being referenced here; we argue about the details, but most accept the basic premises on which our country is founded. I am blessed. And I am also a great fan of both Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, but I take a very different meaning from them than is currently popular.
Quote: boymimboOddSinker makes a good point.
My point is that is is very likely that rich people became rich because their parents were rich, could afford to put them in nice schools, and give them an advantage because their parents chose to stay together..
This is so ridiculous and so a 19th century way of thinking
that I can't even begin to tackle it. It's no wonder you're
a Socialist, you have no idea what's going on.
Quote: beachbumbabsI got an air traffic service able to deploy necessary safety and security systems, an interstate highway system I used daily, airwaves I used daily, hundreds of other personal, community, and national benefits.
A person on welfare who's never had a job in
his life gets all this as well. I'm not sure what
your point is.
use garbage can lids to protect our heads from falling
arrows. We had BB gun fights, talk about putting out
your eye, Ralphie..
As a kid, lucky to have 10 fingers after close calls with cherry bombs on 4th July. To say nothing about having both eyes intact after
roman candle wars.
Me and Bob proof the good Lord looks out for fools.
Either that or only the good die young.
Your choice
Quote: BuzzardAs a kid, lucky to have 10 fingers after close calls with cherry bombs on 4th July.
10 fingers is just insurance. You don't necessarily need all of them.
I had a crazy friend (most people have one, or are one) light a cherry bomb with a cigarette in his mouth, then reached over and dropped it in my top shirt pocket.
I had split second of what just happened moment, before thrashing around and getting it out of my pocket. It wasn't close enough to hurt me, but my ears were ringing for awhile.
Quote: rxwine10 fingers is just insurance. You don't necessarily need all of them.
I had a crazy friend (most people have one, or are one) light a cherry bomb with a cigarette in his mouth, then reached over and dropped it in my top shirt pocket.
I had split second of what just happened moment, before thrashing around and getting it out of my pocket. It wasn't close enough to hurt me, but my ears were ringing for awhile.
We had lawn darts. Loved them. Survived them. We also sledded on everything from toboggans to waxed cardboard, waterskied on plywood discs, climbed trees, had nail-gun fights, shot bb's at each other, shot croquet balls at each other with mallets, made potato cannons, had fireworks every year including m80's and cherry bombs, jumped on beds, and ate dirt. Somehow everybody came through in one piece, though I think everyone's got at least one scar.
This is my all-time favorite banned toy.
1. Atomic Energy
Laboratory
In 1951, A.C. Gilbert, inventor of the ERECTOR set, released the U-238 Atomic Energy Lab. Using real radioactive materials, one could witness mist trails created by particles of ionizing radiation.
The set included four Uranium-bearing ore samples, and originally sold for $49.50.
That was a very expensive toy in 1951 !
course, we threw it in the neighbors burn barrel.
Had to be hundreds of rounds, they made the
barrel look like swiss cheese. We hid behind a
tree, we weren't that dumb.
over the counter? Its methylated morphine and man,
did it do the trick. Get the good stuff, and you felt
right as rain if took it every few hours. I don't
remember when they banned it, mid 60's maybe.
You can still get it with a script, but it's not nearly
as strong as the old stuff.
When I first moved to Clifton, I was renting a house behind the elementary school. Just a few miles away from the vineyards in
Palisades. Dirt road and all. Middle of nowhere. They were cooking meth in the house next door.
Remember when people would leave a bottle of liquor in their mailbox during snowstorms? The plow driver would grab it and then plow or partially the driveway. There must have been some sort of prearrangement for them to know which mailbox. Try that today.
Quote: 1BBRemember when your ZIP code was five numbers and not the ZIP+4? .
How about when all phone numbers had
2 letters in front of them, like CH or LE.
And no area codes, you went thru an
operator for a long distance call. And they
were so expensive that you only called on
special occasions and everybody had to
talk real fast.
Quote: 1BBRemember when your ZIP code was five numbers and not the ZIP+4? Okay, lets thin out the herd a little. Remember when there was no ZIP code? How about state abbreviations? They are all two letters now but that wasn't always the case. Remember when they were two to five letters?
Remember when people would leave a bottle of liquor in their mailbox during snowstorms? The plow driver would grab it and then plow or partially the driveway. There must have been some sort of prearrangement for them to know which mailbox. Try that today.
The liquor trick still works, according to my northern relatives.
