Usually I’m out of the house on Halloween since it’s during the fall hunting season here in Wisconsin.
But this year it worked out so that I was home to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters with my wife.
As a kid, I always loved Halloween. I remember when I was growing up in the late ’80s and even into the early ’90s that the big things to get were cans of soda, big candy bars and I liked the sour candies too.
We got just a few trick-or-treaters at the door that night. I guess it was a little on the light side compared to previous years, but it was still fun.
The big costumes were dragons and dinosaurs. But I was also surprised to see Ninja Turtles costumes. Those were huge when I was a kid.
But back to Halloween this year and the young kids that came to the door.
They were a mix of pretty young to maybe about the pre-teen years. The young ones were cute. I bet we had a couple as young as two. And some were about 10 or 11 or so.
One thing I noticed was that just about every kid said, “Thank you” and even a few “Have a nice night” comments came through after they reached in for some candy from the bowl.
Get Off My Lawn Syndrome
I’m certainly not saying that every kid or young person out there is sweet and nice to others. But it seems that there’s a mindset in the world that kids are little brats.
I know that some are. I probably was at some points in my childhood.
But since that night on Halloween I’ve been paying attention a little more and it’s really amazing how many kids and young folks are really good citizens. They’re courteous with their manners. They offer help to others including the elderly and they’re just generally pleasant to be around in public.
A few weeks ago, shortly after Halloween, I went back to my old high school stomping grounds with my parents and brother and watched a football game. The student section was still cheering on the team, but they were less rowdy and obnoxious than I remember from my time in middle and high school.
Back a few years ago I liked the film, Gran Torino. It had the impressionable line from well-known crank Clint Eastwood where he said, “Get off my lawn.”
That’s something a lot of older people have felt over the years when it comes to some kids. But I’ve been seeing recently that it’s definitely a minority of kids that are really deserving of the label being a negative to society.
Young People Have A Lot To Offer
I’m also looking to learn the lesson that young people have a lot to offer the world. When I first entered the workforce I was lucky to work for a company that was very accepting to young people.
I was a 22-year old kid out of college. I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew that I was willing to work hard. And others in the company seemed to appreciate that. They provided me with assistance when I had questions. They gave me the confidence to speak up when I had ideas and they really made me feel like I could contribute.
That was great for me personally and I hope it was great for the company. I feel I did a great job for them. I know I gave my best effort while there. I’m not sure how I would have reacted had the situation been different where young people are kind of shunned in workplaces.
Young people may not have certain experience levels that older people have, but that doesn’t mean young folks can’t help an organization. In fact, I think they can offer some unique things.
Young people can bring fresh ideas. They can bring renewed energy to a company. They can also bring strong work ethics and can provide a diversity to a business that can lead to great things.
Now, on the flip side, I definitely feel that people of all ages have something to offer just about any situation in life and business.
Final Takeaway
What I’m looking to say with this article is that we all have our own prejudices in life. One of them, that I’ve even noticed about myself, is thinking that young people are annoying and immature and so on. But I’ve noticed that young people are some of the most courteous I’ve ever met. That’s been recently and thinking back it’s been going on for awhile.
There must be a lot of great parents out there.
So look at where your prejudices might be in life and look to see if there is a more positive way to look at people…including young people because they have a lot to offer the world.