Slate advice columnist Emily Yoffe shuts down a wealthy homeowner who asked how they should handle the “poor kids” coming into their neighborhood to trick-or-treat on Halloween every year.
The advice seeker nicknamed “Halloween for the 99 Percent” wrote to her "Ask Prudence" column, claiming they lived in one of the “wealthiest neighborhoods in the country” and felt it was inappropriate that “75 percent of the trick-or-treaters are clearly not from this neighborhood.”
“Halloween isn’t a social service or a charity in which I have to buy candy for less fortunate children,” the advice seeker wrote. “Obviously this makes me feel like a terrible person, because what’s the big deal about making less fortunate kids happy on a holiday?
“But it just bugs me, because we already pay more than enough taxes toward actual social services. Should Halloween be a neighborhood activity, or is it legitimately a free-for-all in which people hunt down the best candy grounds for their kids?"
Yoffe felt no sympathy for the person “whining” to her about have to spend a little extra cash to ensure they had enough candy for the less fortunate children who visited her neighborhood once a year.
“In the urban neighborhood where I used to live,” Yoffe began her response, “families who were not from the immediate area would come in fairly large groups to trick-or-treat on our streets, which were safe, well-lit, and full of people overstocked with candy.
“It was delightful to see the little mermaids, spider-men, ghosts, and the occasional axe murderer excitedly run up and down our front steps, having the time of their lives. So we’d spend an extra $20 to make sure we had enough candy for kids who weren’t as fortunate as ours. There you are, 99, on the impoverished side of Greenwich or Beverly Hills, with the other struggling lawyers, doctors, and business owners.
“Your whine makes me kind of wish that people from the actual poor side of town come this year not with scary costumes but with real pitchforks. Stop being callous and miserly and go to Costco, you cheapskate, and get enough candy to fill the bags of the kids who come one day a year to marvel at how the 1 percent live.”
Check out the Ask Prudence column for Slate.com here.
