How bad is Halloween going to be this year?

[Sisyphus]

LA County cancels Halloween, says no trick-or-treating this year

A traditional Halloween with trick-or-treaters going door-to-door for candy will not be allowed in Los Angeles County this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

abc7.com

And so it begins or ends depending on how you look at it.

 

[Tessa120]

LA County cancels Halloween, says no trick-or-treating this year

A traditional Halloween with trick-or-treaters going door-to-door for candy will not be allowed in Los Angeles County this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

abc7.com

And so it begins or ends depending on how you look at it.

Boooooooo. It can be done safely with a little creativeness. They want to cancel something, cancel Santa at the mall. Halloween has already been cut back far too much over recent years, cut to a ridiculous level, they need to let it be this year.

 

[happygoth]

Trick or treating should definitely be canceled, and I seriously doubt there will be Santas at the mall or anywhere else.

Even in places that don't cancel it, I am sure there will be way fewer people handing out candy, as well as less kids going out.

 

[BackroomOG14]

cant wait to see how much candy/costumes go salvage. bts was already a huge let down.

 

[GRC]

How does one 'cancel' trick-or-treating, exactly? Unless they make it illegal, what's stopping anyone from doing it anyway?

 

[happygoth]

How does one 'cancel' trick-or-treating, exactly? Unless they make it illegal, what's stopping anyone from doing it anyway?

Why would anyone allow their children to go up and knock on strangers' doors and take candy from them during a pandemic? And why would anyone want a bunch of kids coming up on their porch?

Thanks but no thanks - maybe next year kids.

 

[Tessa120]

There will never be a next year though. It's here to stay. We have to learn to live with it, rather than wishing for a future where it's gone.

All the people that rushed for a LOA, I did think it all silly. Not the LOA itself, the concept that 120 days later it'd be all over with. I wondered why people were even bothering right off the bat rather than when it is needed (like store outbreaks) and what they would do when 120 days passed and it was still around.

Who would want candy? Someone who (despite all children being the spawn of demons who should pop out fully formed and 18 years old) enjoys that children get a fun playtime of make believe and silly innocent scares. Someone who wants to make kids have fun. Someone who adores seeing the kids all made up, even the 16 year olds who make a vague attempt at a mask and dark clothes. They all come from the ball sack of Satan, but kids have their cute moments.

Kids taking candy dangerous? Don't you remember hospitals doing free Xrays of candy to look for metal and having to check items for tampering due to poison? Danger's been around a long time, you learn to adapt your habits to live with it.

I'm going to adapt. I'm going to use bags, glow in the dark material, and lots of throwing.

We've given lots with ordinances that mandate trick or treating during daylight hours (so much for a frightening fake graveyard) and ridiculously low ages (12?). Don't give up everything.

 

[Tessa120]

Adapting to the virus, learning to live with it, that doesn't mean stop living and settle for merely existing. It means finding the balance between safety and living and staying to that fine line. Humans have to live, simple existence with no positive stimuli is a terrible way to survive.

 

[Far from newbie]

remember the Pallets of Easter Salvage ?,
there are already Pallets of School Supply salvage,
history has proven : there WILL BE pallets of Halloween salvage
‘We’re just being sent TOO much.

We could fill 40 feet of hand sanitizer if we put it all out.

 

[jenna]

remember the Pallets of Easter Salvage ?,
there are already Pallets of School Supply salvage,
history has proven : there WILL BE pallets of Halloween salvage
‘We’re just being sent TOO much.

We could fill 40 feet of hand sanitizer if we put it all out.

meh. some years there is more salvage than others. Pallets is nothing new.

However, the 1000s of eaches of off-brand sanitizer is new and over whelming.

 

[happygoth]

There will never be a next year though. It's here to stay. We have to learn to live with it, rather than wishing for a future where it's gone.

All the people that rushed for a LOA, I did think it all silly. Not the LOA itself, the concept that 120 days later it'd be all over with. I wondered why people were even bothering right off the bat rather than when it is needed (like store outbreaks) and what they would do when 120 days passed and it was still around.

Who would want candy? Someone who (despite all children being the spawn of demons who should pop out fully formed and 18 years old) enjoys that children get a fun playtime of make believe and silly innocent scares. Someone who wants to make kids have fun. Someone who adores seeing the kids all made up, even the 16 year olds who make a vague attempt at a mask and dark clothes. They all come from the ball sack of Satan, but kids have their cute moments.

Kids taking candy dangerous? Don't you remember hospitals doing free Xrays of candy to look for metal and having to check items for tampering due to poison? Danger's been around a long time, you learn to adapt your habits to live with it.

I'm going to adapt. I'm going to use bags, glow in the dark material, and lots of throwing.

We've given lots with ordinances that mandate trick or treating during daylight hours (so much for a frightening fake graveyard) and ridiculously low ages (12?). Don't give up everything.

Giving out candy has always been hit or miss at my house, depending on who was home and who felt like doing it. We are perfectly fine keeping the light off this year.

 

[happygoth]

meh. some years there is more salvage than others. Pallets is nothing new.

However, the 1000s of eaches of off-brand sanitizer is new and over whelming.

The sanitizer is ridiculous, but so are the masks. So many masks!

 

[Tessa120]

Giving out candy has always been hit or miss at my house, depending on who was home and who felt like doing it. We are perfectly fine keeping the light off this year.

Thats fine for you. Don't legislate everyone should follow your choices. There's ways to do it safely.

 

[happygoth]

I'm not a legislator so I can't legislate anyone's choices. I can voice my opinion though. I love autumn and Halloween, but handing out candy is not the thrill for me. I love the decor and the spooky atmosphere, and I love visiting Salem, which I will miss this year, but it is what it is.

The world has been through many times where disasters both natural and man-made have disrupted life as they knew it. Ajustments and sacrifices had to be made, and they have to be made now. That may look different for different people, but there are certain precautions that are pretty obvious and certain behaviors that are obviously riskier than others.

 

[redeye58]

Weather permitting, I'll be out front with a boxful & a slingshot for the kiddos at the sidewalk.

 

[Tessa120]

I'm not a legislator so I can't legislate anyone's choices. I can voice my opinion though. I love autumn and Halloween, but handing out candy is not the thrill for me. I love the decor and the spooky atmosphere, and I love visiting Salem, which I will miss this year, but it is what it is.

The world has been through many times where disasters both natural and man-made have disrupted life as they knew it. Ajustments and sacrifices had to be made, and they have to be made now. That may look different for different people, but there are certain precautions that are pretty obvious and certain behaviors that are obviously riskier than others.

The scale is personal freedom vs public safety. If the risk to public safety is low then it's a matter of personal freedom. If public safety is high, then that should be first. Like bike helmets, most places don't mandate them because the risk to others is low, even though the risk to the person is ridiculously high.

Halloween trick or treating has to have less risk than grocery shopping. You shop indoors with circulated air, anyone could have touched the packages you touched (like milk jug handles) two aisles over someone could have sneezed softly and you walk into the invisible droplets without knowing, then you contaminate your debit card by touching it with the same hands that grabbed cereal and milk, contaminate your steering wheel when you get in the car. Halloween is outdoors with breeze, smaller groups, you don't have to get all close to the product, and the candy can sit until the 2nd so germs die off.

 

[flow4areasonuno]

The scale is personal freedom vs public safety. If the risk to public safety is low then it's a matter of personal freedom. If public safety is high, then that should be first. Like bike helmets, most places don't mandate them because the risk to others is low, even though the risk to the person is ridiculously high.

Halloween trick or treating has to have less risk than grocery shopping. You shop indoors with circulated air, anyone could have touched the packages you touched (like milk jug handles) two aisles over someone could have sneezed softly and you walk into the invisible droplets without knowing, then you contaminate your debit card by touching it with the same hands that grabbed cereal and milk, contaminate your steering wheel when you get in the car. Halloween is outdoors with breeze, smaller groups, you don't have to get all close to the product, and the candy can sit until the 2nd so germs die off.

Halloween also involves kids. You know, the small people that put their hands in their mouths and then touch EVERYTHING.

 

[Tessa120]

And how is it any worse than kids in grocery stores? How many people have touched the box they are possessively holding while in the cart seat? How many people have breathed the same recirculated air as the kid?

Danger level, a kid is probably at greater risk going to church. Definitely at greater risk going to school.

Isn't this one area, when you critically evaluate similar risks, where the parents should decide for their family rather than one person deciding for all parents? Trick or treating is a lot lower risk than many other activities, because of exterior air, the ability to stay 6 feet apart, and the parents ability to say no eating for a few days or to wipe all sealed exteriors before opening.

And if children chewing on Halloween candy packaging is an actual concern rather than panic, what about last year and the year before? How many kid killing and kid maiming germs existed last year? Why did you have no concern for last year's germs? It's not like the chance of catching a disease is new, parents managed enough hygiene to protect the kids before now. Step up the game a bit when using tried and true methods works.

 

[flow4areasonuno]

Why did you have no concern for last year's germs? It's not like the chance of catching a disease is new, parents managed enough hygiene to protect the kids before now. Step up the game a bit when using tried and true methods works.

Last year, we didn't have a flipping plague on.

 

[Tessa120]

See, this proves a point I've been trying to make. The world did its best to kill us last year, and all the things it tried to kill us with are still circulating this year. There's additional dangerous things than COVID-19 and completely forgetting about them because they are familiar dangers is ridiculous.

So, what's so dangerous about trick or treating that a) is much higher than other optional activities people are doing these days, and b) by nature of the transmission, safety measures for Halloween candy for years past are not sufficient?

Closest optional activity to trick or treating is family outdoor exercise. Both are outside. Both involve occasionally being near others. Family outdoor exercise often doesn't involve masks, so trick or treating is safer on that point.

Trick or treating of years past, parents examined every piece of candy for tampering. To prevent sugar rush, candy was staggered out over days. This year, the baskets full of candy can be ignored for a few days in case there are creepy crawlies on the outside of the wrappers that need time to die. Creepy crawlies like COVID-19, but also listeria, e. coli, salmonella and a few more really nasty stuff. And all those were there last year if kids decided to chew on the packaging, so parental techniques for dealing with icky candy wrappers have been honed for decades. Sanitation methods are known and practiced, it's just a bit more elbow grease this year.

It's stupid easy to make trick or treating safe. Many are up to the parents, yeah, but are you going to have the balls to look at parents and say their control over their children is being stripped away simply because you disagree with their choices? If you say it should because it's safety, then why aren't you doing anything about anti-vaxxers and religious people who pray over their kids instead of taking them to doctors?

 

[Shani]

meh. some years there is more salvage than others. Pallets is nothing new.

However, the 1000s of eaches of off-brand sanitizer is new and over whelming.

THIS.
Thousands of eaches of one particular off-brand of sanitizer and then we get another pallet full of it. Fuck off with that shit. Nobody is buying it anyway. They wait for Purell and Germ-X to come in.


Anyway, as far as Halloween goes, I'm glad I live on a busy street so I don't have to worry about it. Parents don't even walk with their kids down my street, so we've never gotten trick-or-treaters.

 

[flow4areasonuno]

then why aren't you doing anything about anti-vaxxers and religious people who pray over their kids instead of taking them to doctors?

Why aren't you?

 

[happygoth]

@Tessa120 there are ways to make trick or treating safer, i agree. I don't have children, I don't have a particular fondness for them, and I don't get jazzed about handing out candy, so this is a no-brainer for me.

However, talking about all the ways the world can hurt us does not change the fact that this virus is dangerous, unpredictable, and can be deadly to many people who would survive other dangers just fine. This is unprecedented in our time, and that's just the way it is. We aren't going to be able to do everything we want to do in the way we want to do it, not if we want to be caring, responsible human beings. Talking about other viruses and other dangers have no bearing on THIS one, the havoc it has wreaked, and the efforts we must continue to put forth to minimize its impact on the human race.

 

[Tessa120]

COVID-19 adds to the danger. So many people though act like it replaced the danger, it replaced all other pathogens. They turn a blind eye to that we already have the skills and at least some practice in viral counterinsurgency. Kids will lick candy wrappers, woe. Well candy wrappers weren't sterile last year so parents are already watching for that behavior. Candy wrappers can have surface contamination, woe. Parents are already examining wrappers for breaches and already rationing candy, which will give time for surface pathogens to die. Kids in doorways are too close, woe. Do you think people are joking when they say throwing, slingshot or mini trebuchet?

 

[buliSBI]

Walter White Breaking Bad and Walking Dead costumes will be big this year.