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Trick or Treat

I love Halloween. I think I like it just as much as the kids who come around trick or treating. Each year we take great pleasure in having a huge basket filled with candy, which we tell the children to “take as large a handful as you can.” We love to see the look of pleasure on the children’s faces and love even more seeing the creative costumes of the munchkins. But this year was different.

My wife had just recovered from a bout of breakthrough COVID and I was recovering from two recent surgeries. We decided not to go to the door when the bell rang. Instead, we placed a large box filled with four Costco-sized bags of candy on the front steps with a sign attached saying “Take ONE handful only.” That was a mistake. Around 6:30, when we checked to see how much candy was left, there wasn’t a single piece. Our only conclusion was that one selfish person, seeing that no one was supervising the candy distribution, decided to take it all, thus depriving the rest of the children of their treats.

So here’s a plea to the parents out there: If their child came home that night with an inordinate amount of candy, ask where he or she got it. If the response doesn’t make too much sense, take the opportunity to instruct the child of the importance of keeping other’s needs and feelings in mind and that selfishness does nothing but belittle the doer.

Buck Wilson

Guilford