Who knew our neighbors felt so strongly about this slice of technology-driven trick-or-treating etiquette — and what it signifies about our very society as a whole.
The drama.
It all started with a missing “4 pounds” of candy message on Nextdoor. Once clicked open, readers found a home security video from someone’s porch on Halloween night. In the corner: a bowl of candy and instructions to take “2 or 3 pieces” each. In the incriminating vid, a handful of kids go up to the bowl and one by one dutifully choose their pieces. But the last kid cleaned the place out — then ran after his friends telling them to slow down because his (now-heavy) bag was “a workout.”
The video was taken down due to a side debate about showing kids on video without a parent’s permission. Don’t worry — another neighbor started a new post so the “Halloween candy business” debate could rage on.
Way more than a hundred comments later, the back-and-forth started to run deeper than “kids will be kids” vs “teachable moment.”
“That’s entrapment!” buzzed one commenter, taking all blame from both parents and trick-or-treaters. “These kids were set up for failure!”
I brought it up over dinner Saturday night, and am here to report back that this is one debate that’s as heated IRL as online.
“There’s no honor system or accountability anymore,” I was told with more force than I was expecting. And a solution was immediately offered: “Next year’s note should say, ‘There’s no candy because last year’s kids couldn’t share.’”
No one online thought of that.
They did think to tell the adults in the room to either answer the door themselves, or “don’t do Halloween!” (Reasons for leaving a bowl outside ranged from “crazy dogs” and “not feeling well” to having a disability and just plain getting older.)
“Taking an extra [candy] is one thing — taking it all is being a Selfish Pig,” doubled down one commenter.
“We as parents should teach our children respect,” agreed one mom.
Nah, countered her neighbor: “If you leave a bowl of candy unsupervised then that’s on you.”
And round and round it went.
A final commenter vowed never to leave a bowl outside again after being cleaned out: “The next morning, all the candy was gone…but so was my bowl!”