All across America tonight, kids of all ages will don their favorite costumes and arm themselves with plastic pumpkins and pillow cases in seek of a bountiful booty of candy. And all across America today, news media, including this station, will warn parents to check the candy before the kids eat it. While caution is always a good idea, because you never know what kind of crazies are out there, why for generations have we been on the look-out for the infamous poisoned candy or apples with razor blades in them? According to the website Snopes.com, there has never been a true, documented case of anyone being randomly targeted during Trick-or-Treating with poison or razor blades, even though some hospitals have gone as far as to offer free X-rays of kids' candy.
Even as a kid I thought it was a little strange. But it's Mom and Dad's job to look out for us, so I bought into it. Perhaps most unbelievable, though, was the bit about the razor blades in the apples. I mean, who's ever gotten an apple for Halloween? I've received toothbrushes and pennies, but never fruit. After all, a bushel of apples is far more expensive than a couple bags of candy to give out. So how did this all get started? There's surely no definitive answer, but I've had a hunch ever since I was little.
As I said, I was always a bit skeptical of this parental candy check. At my house, my Dad was usually the one in charge of being the examiner. But he did it by taste test. Now you could say that he was quite courageous to put his own life on the line by potentially eating poison or razor blades meant for his children. But I knew something was up when I started noticing that my Dad, an admitted Snickers addict, would typically only perform a taste test on that favorite of his and maybe a few other of the yummier treats. Coincidence? I think not. Besides, just because the Snickers from one house were safe, how was he to know those little nameless things in the orange wrapper from another house weren't tainted. Yes, even as a youngster, my cynicism made me realize that all this fear-mongering was likely created and proliferated by parents who knew they were too old to get their own candy, as I was and still am certain that my Dad is not the only father to pull off this ploy.
Of course, it's always good to keep an eye on what the kids wind up with on Halloween. With all the uncertainty in the world today, you can never be too safe. And so the fear of deadly candy will continue into perpetuity. And parents will continue to pilfer treats from their kids. I know that's what I plan to do one day myself.
