A Canadian woman was recorded on video taking candy that belonged to children as part of a strange Halloween event. She soon began trending on social media after many online commentators went about speculating on her ethnicity and stirring up some controversy.
While the Diwali festivities illuminated the country, in Canada, this Halloween season was in high spirits, but a quite strange incident stole the shine from this fun event. The lady, dressed in bright-colored salwar kameez, was walking stealthily house to house in the Cornell neighborhood of Ontario, Markham, while snatching sweets and making away with the bowls containing some treats that had been prepared for trick-or-treaters.
The Incident Caught on Camera
A saucy act happened on Halloween Eve and quickly went viral several days later. Harrison Faulkner is a member of the media and features The Faulkner Show whose video was posted to X (formerly known as Twitter) that described the experience: “Trick or Steal spotted in Markham, Ontario last night. What’s going on?” Over 500k people viewed the post while people let loose with all types of comments and reactions.
The video made its rounds around and many viewers surmised that the woman must have had an Indian origin, to which some believed, however, these claims could not be proven. In this video, she methodically raided the candy bowls, keeping the audience in a mixture of laughter and bewilderment.
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Trick or Steal spotted in Markham, Ontario last night.
What is going on?
pic.twitter.com/EFadsilC31
— Harrison Faulkner (@Harry__Faulkner) November 1, 2024Social Media Reaction
Some thought it disbelief, others humor. One just laughed and said, “I guess she took ‘trick-or-treat’ a bit too literally.” Another individual pointed to the unfairness of all of this for the little guys, saying, “This is not what Halloween is about! Where are the kids supposed to get their candy?” One more individual took it lightly and humorously added, “Think about the faces of these children when they discover the candy is gone!”
Others joined with disbelief, saying, for instance, “I’ve seen it all now. What’s next?” One of them even joked about the “heist that she would change her attire to become a Halloween outfit.” She even jokingly suggested with laughter, “Perhaps she thought she was trick-or-treating for herself!”
A Glimpse into Halloween Traditions
It is an understanding of what Halloween truly means to explain why it drew much attention to it. Halloween is a festival of the ancient Celtic people, traditionally celebrated on October 31 every year. It is the end of the harvest season and the start of winter when the veil that separates the living from the spirit world is at its thinnest. At this time, people are believed to have lit bonfires and donned disguises to ward off spirits that roamed the streets.
Today, Halloween has really become a family celebration where children go around in costume for trick-or-treat candies, and people place bowls with candies on their porches, so the kids can always take some whenever they come up, even though the adult is not around to hand over candies to them.
My Thoughts on the Situation
It reminds me of many interesting questions about perceptions of culture and how social media shapes things. Of course, it’s easy to draw inferences about the background of the lady from what transpired, but in reality, not all that a person does go to say something about a whole community or culture, and then let’s not forget the entertaining part almost like a comedy piece!
But at the same time, it makes me rather nervous because such incidents foster bad stereotypes, especially for the reason that most people believe what they see. Well, this reminds me a lot about caution with my approach toward people and situations. At last, Halloween is also supposed to be a joyous time for friends and the community, and I just hope this incident can conclude in light-hearted learning from everyone.
Minutes by M31GlobalNews
