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Halloween is a night for kids to run wild and have a blast with their friends…but, as you know, there’s always bound to be some kind of wrench thrown into the works whenever parents get involved.
And this parent asked if they were wrong for making Halloween not a festive night, but a real downer for a bunch of kids from another part of town.
Let’s see what they had to say and how people on Reddit reacted to the story.
AITA? for ruining thousands of kids’ Halloween and not feeling bad about it?
“I live in a large neighborhood, about 90 houses. We are what’s considered the ‘rich’ neighborhood. So our neighborhood as always been a hotspot for trick or treaters.
We used to get about 700 – 1000 kids a year, I’ve always loved getting trick or treaters because my kids are teens now and don’t trick or treat anymore. But in the last four years, it’s gotten ridiculous.
There’s thousands of kids and their parents flooding the streets, people with hay in their rigs carrying kids around, trampling yards, littering candy wrappers everywhere, and the amount of small children walking around by themselves is APPALLING. People from the neighboring town of 30,000 people take their kids to my neighborhood.
I was annoyed, but I never really did anything about it till two years ago. My daughter tripped and broke her arm (we didn’t think it was a break but we wanted to go to the er anyway to get it checked out) and there were so many people in our neighborhood, we couldn’t get out.
There were cars everywhere, lining the streets, parked in people’s yards, it was horrible. We had to wait until everyone left (about 1 am) to go to the hospital. My daughter had to wait in pain for HOURS.
At that point, I was done. I contacted the neighborhood community and we managed to get some folks (cops mostly) to stand the at the gate with a list and only let in certain people. (folks that live here, family members, friends)
If you wanted to get in, you had to be close to someone in the neighborhood. It was great, there were only about 300 kids in the neighborhood and after there was barely any trash. And, we’re doing it again this year.
I recently told my sister what I have done, and she got really angry. When we were kids, we had to trick or treat in other neighborhoods because we lived in a trailer park with no other kids. She told me I was a horrible person for ruining thousands of kids Halloween.
But honestly, I’m not too broken up about it. It was a hazard, if there was a fire or an emergency, no one would be able to get in to help. When I was a kid, there was never any cars lining the streets, the residences could get out if they wanted, it was never dangerous.
I don’t think I’m in the wrong, but I’ve always respected my sister’s opinion. AITA?”
Hmmmmm…
This Reddit user said that the parent is not wrong in the situation and that she took this action because were clearly not behaving.
Photo Credit: Reddit
Another person said they deal with a similar situation on Halloween where they live, but with one big difference: there’s no littering and destruction.
Photo Credit: Reddit
This reader said that the neighborhood the person is talking about is clearly not set up for these kinds of crowds and that it’s a safety issue.
Photo Credit: Reddit
Another Reddit user said a similar situation happens in a neighborhood by them and it’s just too busy and crowded.
Photo Credit: Reddit
Finally, one person said they think that this parent is being a bit of an *sshole and they shouldn’t ruin kids having a good time just because their parents are incompetent and disrespectful.
Photo Credit: Reddit
How about you?
Do you think this parent acted like a jerk or were they justified in their actions?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Thanks!
