Mean spirited question posted on 'Dear Prudence' that elicited the perfect response ..
Here it is for your reading pleasure ...
I live in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country, but on one of the more “modest” streets—mostly doctors and lawyers and family business owners. (A few blocks away are billionaires, families with famous last names, media moguls, etc.) I have noticed that on Halloween, what seems like 75 percent of the trick-or-treaters are clearly not from this neighborhood. Kids arrive in overflowing cars from less fortunate areas. I feel this is inappropriate. Halloween isn’t a social service or a charity in which I have to buy candy for less fortunate children. Obviously this makes me feel like a terrible person, because what’s the big deal about making less fortunate kids happy on a holiday? But it just bugs me, because we already pay more than enough taxes toward actual social services. Should Halloween be a neighborhood activity, or is it legitimately a free-for-all in which people hunt down the best candy grounds for their kids?
—Halloween for the 99 Percent
Dear 99,
In the urban neighborhood where I used to live, families who were not from the immediate area would come in fairly large groups to trick-or-treat on our streets, which were safe, well-lit, and full of people overstocked with candy. It was delightful to see the little mermaids, spider-men, ghosts, and the occasional axe murderer excitedly run up and down our front steps, having the time of their lives. So we’d spend an extra $20 to make sure we had enough candy for kids who weren’t as fortunate as ours. There you are, 99, on the impoverished side of Greenwich or Beverly Hills, with the other struggling lawyers, doctors, and business owners. Your whine makes me kind of wish that people from the actual poor side of town come this year not with scary costumes but with real pitchforks. Stop being callous and miserly and go to Costco, you cheapskate, and get enough candy to fill the bags of the kids who come one day a year to marvel at how the 1 percent live.
—Prudie
= new reply since forum marked as read
...and, yes, many children who were not as fortunate as the children in our neighborhood came at Halloween. But...it was not just for the candy. Maybe the idiot who wrote the letter did not realize that in addition to candy and other treats, the houses where I lived put on wonderful Halloween shows...lights, screams, haunted house music and other things that all children enjoy.
I can remember seeing children dropped off in old cars and wearing inexpensive costumes, but I can tell you, my husband and I put on as much a show for these children as those who lived by us and those who were wearing costumes that obviously were created and paid for by professional costume makers.
That letter about being offended by children of lessor means coming to where things were better...unbelievable! Made me really glad that we always did for all children. I can tell you, all the parents loved it and so did all the children. ALLA CHILDREN ARE ENTITLED TO THE SAME JOYS!
