It’s not about Halloween candy. It’s about values.
December 14, 2021
Have you ever left Halloween candy out for kids to self-serve because you wouldn’t be home? (Or, during this pandemic, because you didn’t want to open the door?)
I have. And so have some of my neighbors.
This past Halloween a neighbor posted in our ‘hood’s group that one group of kids had taken all the candy. They left the bowl, but took the entire contents leaving none for others.
It takes a lot to shock me these days, but the online discussion truly did. Here’s what some wrote:
“Just kids having fun.”
“If they take all the candy, it’s not stealing. If they take the bowl, it is.”
“What do you expect, leaving it all out there?”
I’ve been concerned for some years now about the degradation of values and this discussion sent me over the top.
Those kids were stealing. Sure, “just” candy. But stealing. Is that how to define fun?
Whether they took the bowl or not, they were taking what did not belong to them.
And the expectation that this would happen? It says so much about today’s values.
One reason I feel such a pull to the Greatest Generation was that for the most part, their values on things like this were front and center. No, it wasn’t a perfect era, no era is. But people helped each other and if you left a bowl of Halloween candy out, you wouldn’t expect kids to steal it. Their parents would have taught them differently.
Values are one of the many concerns I have about what’s happened to our country since that awful man was in the White House. The lack of civility. The dearth of human decency. And of course, the damage to our democracy.
But when adults defend kids who take what’s not theirs to take, it shows how steep a fall American values have taken. And I fear it won’t improve in my lifetime.
We once had a kid in our neighborhood who would pick fights with other kids, the mom said “boys will be boys,” and I knew to keep my boys (who were taught not to fight) away.
My personal peeve is lack of common courtesy. Relatives who visit a woman who lives on the ground floor of my building have continued to pull up in a large SUV or truck and park in front of my and my neighbors’ carports. This makes it impossible for me to back out and leave. They continue to do this, even though I have asked them on numerous occasions to have the common courtesy to use nearby visitor spaces. They don’t even apologize when they can sense my frustration. I will continue to bemoan the “it’s all about me“ attitude in our society and tell them they are inconsiderate. This is my rant for the day.
‘Common’ values drilled into me as a child are practically non-existent now. Sadly, though he is gone, his legacy of selfishness and thinking only of oneself remains. I weep for the world where THOSE kids are parents.
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Have you ever left Halloween candy out for kids to self-serve because you wouldn’t be home? (Or, during this pandemic, because you didn’t want to open the door?)
We once had a kid in our neighborhood who would pick fights with other kids, the mom said “boys will be boys,” and I knew to keep my boys (who were taught not to fight) away.
It is absolutely mind-boggling.
My personal peeve is lack of common courtesy. Relatives who visit a woman who lives on the ground floor of my building have continued to pull up in a large SUV or truck and park in front of my and my neighbors’ carports. This makes it impossible for me to back out and leave. They continue to do this, even though I have asked them on numerous occasions to have the common courtesy to use nearby visitor spaces. They don’t even apologize when they can sense my frustration. I will continue to bemoan the “it’s all about me“ attitude in our society and tell them they are inconsiderate. This is my rant for the day.
I feel ya, sistah. I feel ya.
Yes, he certainly coarsened society in so many ways. I know I shouldn’t blame one person, but I do anyway.
I think he plays a big role.
You always manage to say what I’m thinking!
Feel free to expand on that any time!
‘Common’ values drilled into me as a child are practically non-existent now. Sadly, though he is gone, his legacy of selfishness and thinking only of oneself remains. I weep for the world where THOSE kids are parents.
I, too, look forward in horror at what is to come as this new generation comes of age.