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Opinion : Halloween is no fun for the elderly and vulnerable

| October 30, 2015

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It’s that time of year again when children don scary costumes and visit homes trying to frighten the decent neighbours of the town under menace of playing a ‘trick’ if they don’t get a ‘treat’.

Halloween has become one of the low points in the social calendar with decent, respectable citizens being targeted in a campaign of utter terror.

This year Halloween coincides with the school holidays meaning that the children will have more time on their hands to terrorise their victims.

Things never used to be like this when my good self was a child. In fact no big deal was made of the 31st October.

As a child the most my good self ever experienced on Halloween was seeing one’s teacher dress up as a witch, which was not all that different from how they looked normally, and we would partake in ducking for apples in a bucket of water.

Nowadays the violent under current that runs through society has spawned the menace of ‘trick or treating’. What vile creature promotes the playing of ‘tricks’ on one’s fellow human beings?

The problems for home owners are compounded by the ridiculous two weekly emptying of the towns wheelie bins meaning that if a bin is tipped over as a ‘trick’ there is likely to be plenty of rubbish spew from the bin as it’s likely to be full.

Here are my tips to combat the antics of the children on the night of Halloween:

  • Never open the front door, instead open an upstairs window so nobody can get at you.
  • Leave outdoor security lights on to deter visitors.
  • Lock wheelie bins away so children can not tip them over.
  • Keep a camera handy to take pictures of any rascals who cause trouble.
  • If possible never answer the door/window, it’s better to pretend to be out than face an unwelcome visitor.
  • Seal your letterbox to prevent it from being opened so the children can’t put items (e.g. fireworks) directly into your home.
  • If you do have to open the window to a visitor turn the light off in the room you are in and place a bright torch in front of your face shining it at the visitors. That way they will not be able to recognise you as the light of the torch will dazzle them.

For those unfortunate enough to have eggs thrown at their house by the little rascals this Halloween here is a simple guide on how to remove egg from the brickwork of a house.

It makes me sick to think that the elderly and vulnerable are likely to be visited by ‘trick or treaters’. How many innocent people will be upset by the antics of unruly children on Halloween this year?

Halloween is probably one of the worst nights in the year, in my opinion it should be banned by the Government.

What do you think?

*My blogs are published every Tuesday and Friday evening around 8.00pm here on the WycombeToday.com website.

You can also follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ivor.wycombe or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Ivor_Wycombe.

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