Remember the Grinch who stole Christmas? As Dr. Seuss described, he stripped the Who houses of their toys and trees and packed them onto a sleigh. Then, just as he was about to throw the booty over the mountain, the mean Grinch heard the Whos singing down below and he was struck with the realization that Christmas is more than presents and trees. His heart grew, he saved the goodies and returned all he had stolen.
Unfortunately, the grinches who stole Halloween from some Anne Arundel children on Monday night did not have a similar change of heart.
Several children and young teen-agers who were out trick-or-treating were accosted by gangs of older teens or adults who stole their candy. Some of the children were slightly hurt, including a 12-year-old Pasadena boy who was stabbed in the hand as he struggled to hold on to his Halloween bag. A 15-year-old Severn girl told police that a man riding in a truck pulled up beside her and grabbed her bag of candy out of her hand. A 14-year-old youth lost his $150 eyeglasses when thieves rolled him for his treat bag with the glasses inside.
It's sad that the fun of Halloween was disrupted by real-life monsters. Dressing up and going trick-or-treating is one of the few innocent childhood pleasures that has endured, but police officials say that every year some grinches try to snatch it away. Some are hoodlums who grab candy from children as they walk down the street. Others make trouble in the neighborhoods until communities restrict or ban trick-or-treating altogether.
Fortunately, Halloween has its defenders who offer safe alternatives to neighborhood trick-or-treating. This year, as in the past, the stores at Annapolis and Marley Station malls handed out candy to children. A number of community organizations sponsored Halloween parties.
We cannot expect grinches who would steal Halloween candy from children to suddenly discover the deeper meaning of the holiday and have a change of heart. Halloween just isn't that kind of celebration.
But then again, if the innocence and imagination of childhood counts for anything any more, perhaps there still is hope these grinches' hearts will grow larger.