The British authority on etiquette,
Debrett's, is out with
a short guide on tasteful trick-or-treating. While all of us could stand to raise our bar higher in the name of a better society, some suggestions will leave those goblins and ghouls scratching their skeleton bones:
"Trick or treat?" should be used as an ice-breaking formula, not a real threat. Halloween fun should never feel menacing.
Good luck distilling all the macabre out of the season, but at the least, I guess this rules out the opening rhyme: "Trick or treat! Smell my feet! Give me something good to eat!"
Children should not be too greedy - if they are offered treats, make sure that they don't take too many and remember to say thank you.
The easy workaround: don't hand them the entire bowl, fercryingoutloud. My system involves grabbing a handful of candies from the bowl, which is kept out of sight. I kindly deposit one in each bag held out to me. Most kids will offer a word of gratitude, sometimes at the prompting of their elders. But they at least show appreciation in their faces, even if they don't vocalize it.
Stay safe. Make absolutely sure that children don't stray beyond agreed boundaries and wander into streets where they are knocking on strangers' doors.
When I was but a wee lad, my peers used to see how many square blocks they could cover. That was before the Internet enabled us to see how many registered sex fiends lived in the neighborhood. Some parents would use the two-bag system: one for treats from homes they knew, the other for those they didn't. Why even take that chance?
Remember, some households may not be as welcoming as others. If there's no answer, don't repeatedly ring the doorbell - move onto another house instead.
This also means not tee-peeing the shrubbery or spray-painting "Trick!" on the garage door.
If you don't mind giving out treats, but would prefer not to have visitors, leave some sweets or chocolate on your front door step and let trick or treaters help themselves.
Now what did they just tell you about handing kids the entire bowl?
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