Halloween human nature experiment

2,692 Views | 26 Replies | Last: 9 yr ago by KidDoc
FlyRod
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I'm curious if any of you have done the following: leave a large dish, bag, trough, or whatever, of Halloween candy on your front porch with an "Honor System" note, if you had to be out and about that night, rather than hand candy out in person to trick-or-treaters.

I'm known as one of the "reliable" houses on Halloween in my area and I'm toying with doing this. And of course there is no way of knowing if people will abide by the honor system, or one kid will just empty the whole amount into his sack.

Putting aside what YOU would do if you were a kid faced with this, have any of you had experiences using such an honor system, and were the [positive, negative, or mixed?
AggieAces06
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AG
Toward the end of the night last year, I left the basket of candy on the porch an went to talk to a neighbor. It only took one group to come through and empty it out. I was fine with it since I was tired of giving it out myself at that point.
EliteElectric
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We tried that one year and it failed miserably. 80# of candy gone in about 30 minutes.
FlyRod
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Not a good start...
ksp
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You might get some honest people, but quickly some one will take it all.
SARATOGA
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My strategy.....turn on porch light. Take a few trick or treaters.

Find a cute little 3 year old clearly only out for a few houses on their first Halloween, prolly dressed as a bumblebee or ballerina or tiger, with mom or dad a little bit down the driveway.......

Dump whole bowl in their bag.

Say "Happy Halloween little one"

Turn off light be done for night.

Just made some 3 or 4 year olds YEAR. And no incessant getting up from the couch.
ksp
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Get off my lawn
justalocal
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We had a neighbor growing up that had a wooden barrel (like to ferment wine). They would fill it up with candy and put a note to take 1 piece. I can't tell you what was left at the end of the night but I know us kids took a handful or two. They didn't always have the best candy though.
armymom
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Not sure why you feel like you need to leave any candy if you aren't there to hand it out. That is what Trick or Treat is about! Turn your light off and they will bypass your house!
ShinerBlonde
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AG
I will be leaving a large bowl full of candy on the porch with a note asking them to take one piece. We don't get a ton of trick or treaters at our house so I hope it works ok. I'd rather do that than not participate.
PS3D
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I've known at least one person that did that, with a large, human-sized scarecrow sitting on the front porch with it...
Pyewacket
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AG
Left candy out so I could take the inmates around the corner to trick or treat. Candy gone in 10 min.
Sprite09
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AG
We handed out candy tonight and for a little while left the bowl on a chair (which we came back to about half empty). All of the kids each took one or two pieces when we were handing it out. One kid though, who already had an overflowing bucket, shoved to the front, pushed all of the candy around in the bowl and talked about how she didnt like the candy, but still took a handful. Other than her, all of the kids were really sweet and cute!
eloc62
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leaving a large container on Halloween night of free candy for kids to take using the "honor system" but asking them to take only 1 piece each, would be like leaving a bank vault open to adults with free money but asking them only to take $100. never works.
PS3D
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I have an idea that will make the honor system work. It might get you sued though.
gutmancometh
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I tried it once and they took the candy, the bowl, and a pair of skates...never again...
gutmancometh
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quote:
I've known at least one person that did that, with a large, human-sized scarecrow sitting on the front porch with it...
Lol...
w8liftr
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Tried that two years in a row...

Lost 2 big bowls. Not just bowls full of candy, they greedy little suckers took the bowl home too.

Never again.
Scruffy
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AG
quote:
We tried that one year and it failed miserably. 80# of candy gone in about 30 minutes.
Scruffy
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AG
I'm lucky enough to live in a "rough" enough neighborhood that there are no trick or treat ord.
FlyRod
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No idea what went down. Got home circa 1:30 am and the trough was empty. Sadly, given the number of trick and treaters I've seen over the years and the sheer volume of candy I dumped in there, it would appear that someone got a tad greedy. Oh well. Diabeetus.
FlyRod
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At dinner with a TAMU job recruit, a little debate about this ensued. Job recruit from CA insisted there would be candy left when I got home. Cynical colleague from New Jersey insisted some greedy little fatso will have cleaned it out. Looks like he won.
CrottyKid
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AG
It only takes one greedy person to ruin a socialist system.
FlyRod
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My candy was freely given, not redistributed from someone else.
OneGood2011Ag
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AG
Next year invest in one of those automatic animal feeders that releases a treat every time a dog steps on the trigger. Fill with candy instead, and lock the top. Sure, someone could press the trigger every five seconds to clean you out, but they would likely get bored with it, and other kids coming to your house would want their shot and send them on their way.

Just be sure to chain down the dog feeder, as some kids might try to steal the entire thing.
techno-ag
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AG
Another one of FlyRod's bad ideas ...
FlyRod
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Yep. Should have given out vouchers for the buffet at GoCo instead.
KidDoc
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AG
quote:
It only takes one greedy person to ruin a socialist system.
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