W6: The Candy Kids Are All Right
After Amy Schmitt of Woodhaven, Michigan, rushed her son Jacob to the hospital for a medical emergency, she learned that they would need to stay in the hospital for several days, including for one of their favorite days of the year, Halloween. She had the wherewithal to find time to rush home to place a sign in front of the house saying they were at the hospital and there was no candy, so kids wouldn’t be disappointed when nobody answered the door during trick or treating. What happened next should challenge any negative narratives you may have about kids these days.
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W6: THE CANDY KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
HAPPY WEDNESDAY EVERYONE.…. A FEW WEEKS AGO ON HALLOWEEN, I SPENT SOME OF MY TIME WATCHING MY KIDS TRICK OR TREAT…. BUT MUCH OF HALLOWEEN NIGHT I WAS MANNING THE STATION – BEHIND A BUCKET OF CANDY, TRYING TO GUESS THE COSTUMES OF SOME OF THE RANDOM KIDS CRUISING OUR STREET. A BUNCH OF KIDS GRABBED MORE CANDY THAN I SAID THEY COULD. RUDE. A THIRD FORGOT TO SAY “TRICK OR TREAT” …MOST FORGOT TO SAY THANK YOU. OVERALL, IT WAS A GOOD NIGHT…BUT THERE WERE A FEW KIDS THAT MADE ME LEAN TO MY GRUMPY OLD MAN SIDE AND QUESTION WHETHER KIDS THESE DAYS ARE BEING TAUGHT ANY VALUES.
JUST WHEN I START TO THINK I’VE GOT KIDS THESE DAYS FIGURED OUT, I GET REMINDED THAT I’M NOT PAYING CLOSE ENOUGH ATTENTION.
THIS IS A STORY ABOUT NOT LETTING A FEW SAMPLES AFFECT YOUR OPINION OF THE LOT…BECAUSE, WHEN NOBODY’S LOOKING…IT TURNS OUT KIDS THESE DAYS ARE PROBABLY KINDER THAN WE WERE…
EPISODE
IT WAS TIME TO GEAR UP AND GET READY FOR ANOTHER GREAT YEAR OF TRICK OR TREATING IN WOODHAVEN, MICHIGAN, A CITY OF ABOUT 13,000 PEOPLE JUST TO THE SOUTHWEST OF DETROIT.
FOR AMY SCHMITT AND HER SON JACOB, HALLOWEEEN IS ONE OF THEIR FAVORITE DAYS OF THE YEAR.
UNFORTUNATELY, TWO DAYS BEFORE HALLOWEEN, JACOB HAD A MEDICAL EMERGENCY, AND THEY WERE FORCED TO BE IN THE HOSPITAL DEALING WITH HIS CONDITION. KNOWING THAT THE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS A BIG ATTRACTION FOR TRICK OR TREATERS, AMY WAS ABLE TO GET BACK TO THE HOUSE LONG ENOUGH TO PUT UP A SIGN IN THE YARD THAT READ “MY SON IS IN THE HOSPITAL, SORRY, NO CANDY” SO THE KIDS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD WOULDN’T BE DISAPPOINTED BY GOING TO THE DOOR.
ONE OF THOSE NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS WAS A SIX-YEAR-OLD NAMED MIA SAYEN. MIA DID A LAP AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD WITH HER DAD, FILLED HER BUCKET FULL AND THEN WENT BACK HOME AND THEY SAT DOWN TO REST WHILE SHE LOOKED OVER HER CANDY. SHE THEN LOOKED UP AT HER DAD, JAMES AND SAID “DAD, CAN WE GO OUT AGAIN?” HE SAID “SURE,” SO THEY WENT BACK OUT, BUT MIA HADN’T TOLD HER DAD WHY. SHE FILLED HER BUCKET AGAIN AND THEN AT ONE POINT, SHE STOPPED, TURNED TO JAMES AND SAID “I DON’T WANT THIS CANDY…I WANT TO LEAVE IT HERE.” THEY HAPPENED TO BE RIGHT IN FRONT OF AMY AND JACOB’S HOME WITH THE SIGN AND THEN IT CLICKED FOR JAMES….HE SAID “HE REALIZED THAT SHE FELT BAD AND DIDN’T WANT ANYBODY NOT TO HAVE CANDY ON HALLOWEEN.”
WHILE AMY AND JACOB SAT IN THE HOSPITAL ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT, AMY CONTINUED TO HEAR NOTIFICATIONS FROM THEIR DOORBELL CAMERA ON HER PHONE. EVENTUALLY, THE NOISE WAS UNAVOIDABLE, AND CAUSED HER TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK SINCE SHE WASN’T EXPECTING TRICK OR TREATERS WITH THE SIGN UP IN THE YARD.
SHE CHECKED AND WHAT SHE SAW WAS HEARTWARMING. KID AFTER KID, DRESSED IN THEIR COSTUMES, WERE COMING TO THEIR DOOR AND DUMPING THEIR OWN CANDY OUT FOR JACOB. THERE WERE NO PARENTS IN THE VIDEOS, JUST WAVE AFTER WAVE OF KIDS DOING WHAT THEY KNEW WAS A KIND THING FOR ANOTHER KID WHO COULDN’T PARTICIPATE.
NOT LONG AFTER, WORD SPREAD AND AMY WAS EVENTUALLY INTERVIEWED BY THE LOCAL NEWS STATION. SHE SAID, “FOR THESE KIDS TO DO THAT WITHOUT THEIR PARENTS THERE WAS REMARKABLE…I MEAN, IT’S JUST AMAZING WHAT THESE PARENTS HAVE RAISED THESE KIDS TO BE.”
I THINK IT’S NORMAL WHEN YOU AGE TO COME TO QUICK CONCLUSIONS ABOUT PEOPLE, KIDS INCLUDED.
I LIKE THIS STORY BECAUSE IT DIRECTLY CHALLENGES THAT NARRATIVE. IT MAKES ME THINK THAT KIDS NOW MIGHT BE QUICKER TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES THAN WE WERE WHEN I WAS A KID, OR AT LEAST THEY’RE MORE CONFIDENT TO FOLLOW WHAT THEY THINK IS RIGHT, INSTEAD OF WORRYING ABOUT WHAT OTHERS MIGHT THINK.
MIA SAYEN IS 6 YEARS OLD AND SHE’S SETTING A GREAT EXAMPLE FOR THE KIDS IN HER NEIGHBORHOOD, AND, FOR THE SLIGHTLY SKEPTICAL ADULTS OUT THERE, IT’S GOOD TO HAVE KIDS LIKE MIA TO CHALLENGE WHAT WE THINK WE KNOW….