I had some difficulty with the title of this post because I don't know that snark is the best course of action here. Thursday, tomorrow, is Halloween and trick-or-treaters will be out in force. In my house I have Batman, Little Red Riding Hood and a USO Girl to get ready to go out with their dad while I stay behind and hand out candy. I've mentioned in years past that our neighborhood is big on Halloween. Last year I handed out about 400 Twizzlers. My elderly neighbors didn't hand out anything because getting up and down their steps is too difficult these days and they signalled their non-participation by leaving their porch light off.
All over the US that's how it's done. Lots of people choose to not participate for various reasons (Jehovah's Witnesses, for example) and leave their lights off. One woman in North Dakota is going to have her lights on and while she'll be handing out treats to some kids to others she'll be giving a whopping dose of humiliation. I haven't yet figured out how to link from my phone but Google "North Dakota Halloween Obesity Letter" and that alone should give you a clue. She'll be judging the kids who come to her door and those she thinks are too fat will get a note encouraging their parents to "ration" their candy consumption this year.
Who the fuck does this? If you think kids eat too much sugar then hand out Play Dough or pretzels or pencils or anything but this. This is cruel. Fabulous way to finish national End Bullying month, too. Imagine being one of the kids who gets this. Imagine being the parent of one of the kids who gets this. I'd be struggling with my inner George Hayduke (again, Google is your friend).
I hope this woman, whoever she is, has a change of heart. Failing that I hope she has a strong scrub brush and plenty of bleach because I predict her house is going to be egged from now till Christmas. I'll stop there before I really get in trouble. You all have a good week.
Amen to that! Couldn't agree more. Besides, theer can be lots of reasons for children (and adults) to be overweight, and not all of them are about eating too much, be it sugar or anything else!
ReplyDeleteIt's the sheer gall of not just discriminating against certain kids but then trying to tell them it's for their own good. Self-righteous much?
DeleteI WISH we got trick or treaters!!! We're off the beaten path, so to speak, and haven't has a single one since we moved here. I still leave my light on, though. And have a couple of bags of goodies on hand, just in case.
ReplyDeleteI sincerely hope that the neighborhood ignores her house this time around. That way, she doesn't get to play Mistress of the World. Bitch. (Whoops! Did I type that out loud? ;) )
Your secret's safe with me, Zan, lol!
DeleteAnd only fat kids should eat healthy food, of course, because too much candy is only bad for them. The skinny ones can eat whatever crap they like. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteAnd only their parents should be censured for the way their children behave.
ReplyDelete