Halloween Beer Walkers
Posted October 31st, 2008 @ 08:52pm by Erik J. Barzeski
Today I noticed for the first time no less than 15 parents (almost all fathers, but not exclusively) drinking beer while walking around with their kids trick-or-treating. ToT occurs between the hours of 6pm to 8pm here, and three of the parents were actually dragging around a beer-filled cooler on wheels!
What's up with that? Is this a new development? I don't recall having ever seen even a single person walking around with beer, from my days as a kid until this year.
Donate Life
Posted 01 Nov 2008 at 2:44pm #
Kind of a shame, you know, that the parents can't do without the beer for a couple hours with their kids. Here's hoping the children don't recall that particular detail of the night.
Does your locality have open container laws? While I don't believe a child should have to witness their parent being ticketed on Halloween, I don't think that Halloween Beer Walking is proper behavior for an adult around small children in public. It is likely to set a horrible example.
Posted 01 Nov 2008 at 4:44pm #
I've seen this same thing the last two years in my subdivision. It's pretty lame, there were at least 4 homes that where having Halloween tail gate parties in their drive ways. They had the grill out and beers giving candy to the trick or treaters!!!
Posted 01 Nov 2008 at 5:08pm #
I'm not sure if I'm defending them or not. But there are cultures that don't idealize beer so much. Perhaps the only thing embarrassing about a parent drinking beer around their child is the people who complain about it.
Now, that being said, if these people were drunk that obviously would be poor behavior and most likely illegal.
Posted 02 Nov 2008 at 8:39pm #
You mean only the kids are supposed to get treats on Halloween? Dang! We have a pretty tight-knit neighborhood, and we go out in groups of 4-6 families. So we had about 15 kids and 8 adults in our traveling group this year, and there are 3-4 houses on our path where the the parents get a little drink for the walk. Nothing excessive, and it makes the evening very festive – ending with a central bonfire where the kids have a big candy-trading session.
Now if I was out on my own with multiple children and drinking while I was solely responsible for them – or if I was drunk – that'd be pretty bad. But as part of larger dynamic, and with the booze in moderation, it makes for a pretty fun experience.
Great weather this year, too. Warm for the early part of the evening, cool for the bonfire.