It’s a day that ends in “y,” so there is a controversy on the internet eliciting take after take. And, because I am a red-blooded American with a point-of-view and high speed internet, I too must share mine.
I like trunk or treats.
*Cue the whispers*
Because I’m a white, upper middle class, YIMBY-er, that may seem surprising to you. I want nothing more than to build community and provide a safe place where neighbors can get to know each other. Trick-or-treating is awesome! I look forward to all the trick-or-treaters who come to my door every year. But for a lot of kids, house-to-house trick-or-treating is another reminder that they will never really get to be a part of their neighborhood — not fully.
As a kid I spent every Halloween going trick-or-treating with my little brother, who would climb the steps to a house, ring the doorbell, get his candy and then ask for some for his sister, too. After a look of incredulity (“Sure kid, that’s what they all say….”), they would notice me at the bottom of the stairs in my wheelchair and costume covered up by my coat. Sometimes they’d bring the bucket to me, sometimes they’d just let my brother pick. Lather, rinse, repeat.
In the days before Halloween, however, I was an independent trick-or-treater at a trunk or treat. I picked the candy from the bowl. I saw the spooky decorations up close. My parents weren’t worried that a missing curb cut or an errant tree root would send me to the ER. At trunk or treats, the ground was flat. I could go indoors and warm up before hitting the pavement again. No gravel driveways or pavers to get stuck on. Easy entry to an accessible restroom.
And for other kids and parents, trunk or treats mean a shorter walk with places to sit down, if needed. It gives parents of neurodivergent kids a little more peace, not worrying about their kid darting behind a car pulling out of the driveway.
For my family, a trunk or treat was far more inclusive than my neighborhood.
I get the criticism. I don’t love it when people drive to a richer neighborhood or host an exclusive trunk or treat to keep the riff raff out. I would love it if we lived in a world where neighborhood trick-or-treating was accessible and safe for everyone. It’d make the other 364 days of the year easier, too. Every birthday party invitation, holiday party, dorm-room-weeknight-reality-TV-watch party was the same reminder for me: “The world wasn’t built for you, and we can’t fathom that we might one day be like you.”
We don’t need to get rid of trick-or-treating. We don’t need to look down our noses at trunk-or-treating, either. Give the kids opportunities to break the rules, to get candy from strangers. Maybe that interaction will mean they aren’t strangers anymore.
(Shelby Hintze) Shelby Hintze is a Salt Lake City resident.
Shelby Hintze is a Salt Lake City resident who spends too much time on the internet and gets paid for it.
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