Trick-or-Treat Tactics

It’s our 75th episode and a Halloween special with Pink Lady vibes! We’re keeping trick-or-treat night fun, safe, and full of memories that last longer than the candy stash. From planning well-lit walking routes and setting curfews to reflective gear, breathable costumes, and why closed-toe shoes beat Crocs on a debris-filled sidewalk — we cover it all.

We talk group coordination, AirTags, candy-check rules that actually work, and how to handle the “just one more house” negotiations. Plus, a quick word on driver awareness at dusk, the teen driver pause, natural bug sprays, and our annual Sonic 50-cent corn dog tradition.

Stick around for laughs, a mosquito saga, and a “Thriller” lyric nod to close out this milestone night.

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Chapters

• 1:09 Milestone And Halloween Setup
• 3:13 Plans, Costumes, And Neighborhood Strategy
• 5:49 Street Safety And Visibility Gear
• 9:34 Route Planning And Group Coordination
• 13:10 Candy Checks And Moderation
• 17:16 Walking Rules And Driver Awareness
• 21:20 Deals, Bug Spray, And Final Tips

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:34

Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of The Gag is Pod. I am your girl Charlie Shantae. Thank you for joining me on another episode. And this is not just any episode. Okay, for what? It's the Halloween episode. So I'm a pink lady from the movie Grease. And number two, this is the 75th episode. Yay! So, first off, thank you, thank you, thank you for rocking with me for 75 episodes. We have so many, so much more to go. I feel like I am just getting started. I feel like I'm just getting my footing together, still learning as we going. Because if you take a look at uh the very first episode that I ever did, which was terrible to where I am now, I am so super excited. And when I edit this video, I'm probably I might just do a little throwback to episode one. Um, just to see how far I've come in this podcasting journey. I have so much fun doing this, I enjoy learning about the ins and out of it, and I hope to be here many, many more years. Hopefully, one day I'll be on a bigger scale. I'm just going ahead and throw that out in the universe, and then we will see where it goes from there. So if you have not already, please make sure you are liking, sharing, and subscribing on your favorite podcast and app in your right-hand corner. There's a plus or a check mark. Please make sure you are checking that so that when a new episode is released, you are one of the first to know. Like I always say, if it's a new episode, then it is a Friday, and it is a Friday of Halloween, which is real cool because I mean tonight when we trick-or-treat, like we ain't gotta hurry up and rush to the crib because they're school the next morning. However, um New Face does have a swim meet in the morning, so there's that. But let's go ahead and jump on in, grab your drink, grab whatever it is that you're drinking, or whatever it is you do when you listen to this, and um, let's jump right in. So, today we're gonna talk a little bit about safety and trick-or-treating and different stuff like that. You know, the kids have fun, they be trying to see who can get the most candy. New face was like, I think this is gonna be my last year out here because I feel like I'm getting a little bit too big and or whatever. And I was like, it's up to you. Um, but I do know that one of his friends is one of his good friends is having a party, so they like to trick-or-treat, and then they do the party as well. So I'm perfectly okay with that. Um, it's a really big neighborhood, bigger than my neighborhood, and they always get good candy over there. And me and his mom, his friend's mom, we always laugh and we always get a good key key. Uh now, every year I buy a new bucket or a new bag for this boy to go trick-or-treating with, and I'm like, why do I continue to do this? So this year I done went and found the trick-or-treat bag from last year. Uh found a few of them, as a matter of fact, and I was like, hey, you can use this this year. I'm not going to get you a new bag. Like, it's pointless. Like, now I have all of these Halloween bags that are just sitting here and adding up, and we ain't doing nothing with them. So this year, you finna reuse a bag. I believe the theme for today is mummy or zombie or something like that. Um he's gonna put it on. I don't uh yeah, cuz yeah, no. In another episode, I'm gonna have to link the video the the picture or something because by the time this comes out, it we ain't gonna have it. Uh so I think that's like the theme or something like that. Um and I'll be like, look, find you a costume that we can do at the house, okay? Like something I ain't gotta go spend a whole bunch of money on. But I think this year I'm going to have to um go and purchase some stuff. And if y'all like, well, if today is Halloween and you're talking about soon, go purchase stuff. Well, y'all know I record in advance, so of course today ain't this is coming out on Halloween, but y'all know today ain't Halloween, so they're sad. So yeah, because y'all be in my y'all be on my email and my comments like crazy. Like, I I know this today is not today is not Halloween that I'm recording. Like, I'm not gonna tell you what Halloween it is for today's date, but it ain't Halloween. But uh yeah, so one of the things that I always stress when we go trick-or-treating is safety because for some reason parents don't like to get out and walk with their kids, they like to drive and let their kids walk. Like, get out and walk, like it's not gonna help you. And so, because of this reason, we have to take extra precautions to make sure that when we're crossing the street and things like that, we are paying attention for cars and make sure that we are visible with chem lights or some kind of other reflective vests so that the kids are seen. Um, I wanna say, let me see, what time does it get dark? Um, it's it starts to get a little bit dark around 6:30-ish now. So, yeah. So, and I think trick-or-treat started at 6. So, yeah, so uh the sun will just be going down, you know, people will be just getting off from work, people are gonna be rushing in with it being on a Friday. It's for the make for a mess. So you have to be make sure you're extra vigilant, make sure you're walk watching your kids and such. I make sure that I'm not on my phone too much when I'm walking with New Face, even though he's a big kid, I still have to pay attention, not because of him, but because of other people. Um now when we go to these places, like times have changed. Like what I remember, and I remember this distinctly, bless this lady heart. When I was a kid, we with me, probably my brother and a couple of my friends, we were out trick-or-treating on our street. And you know, some people was giving out like little candies, then we went to a couple houses, and they had um full-size candy bars. I was like, oh snap, full-size candy bars, oh snap, like this is the joy, and so we went to this one lady house, bless her heart, um, and she gave out pennies. Bless that lady heart. Um but I took the pennies and I took them right to my piggy bank because maybe one cent adds up to two cents and keep on adding up from there. I'm getting get a hundred of these things and I'm gonna be good to go. Um, so you know, now like people have gotten creative. Like, I've seen people give out like bags of cookies and um full-size candy bars, like neighborhoods have like um fall festivals, and like it is very different from when I was growing up. It was like you walk, you go to these houses with the lights on, you get your candy, and um and you're good to go. Um, one suggestion I do have for you, I'm getting all off script here. Like, I'm I'm trying to do better with my script, trying to make sure that it flows correctly for y'all. Sometimes it be flowing ahead of schedule. So bear with me. If you hear me repeat something, or if you hear a subject and you hear me go back, I'm trying to stay on top of here. Um, so when it comes to planning how you're gonna do your Halloween night, make sure you choose familiar, well-lit routes. This is very important because sometimes people will be driving down the street with their headlights and they high beams on. I don't get it. Like the neighborhood we're going to, they have golf carts. So I like it over there because people are in their golf carts, but golf carts hurt too because at the end of the day, they are still a vehicle. Um, they hurt. Um, I always set a start and a stop time because I'm not finna be out here in these people's streets all night long, okay? I'm tired. And then he got a swim meet uh the next morning. I'm not finna be out here late and then have to get up early to go to this swim meet. We're not finna do that. So I my aim is to try to be home by like 10 o'clock, 10, 11 o'clock. Like after they trick-or-treat, I know it's half a friend having a party. I need to be in the house. I got I got to lay down. I'm old. I need to lay down, I need to lay my burdens down just a little bit. Always go with a group. I I I this is just me. Do what you do with you with your kids. I do not send New Face out by himself. The world is so crazy, okay? There's so much going on. So I never send new face out by himself. If you are unable to do it, find a buddy group or a group that you trust your child to go out with so that your child can still go have fun, even though you are not there. Um, use phone tracking. So, like if you have an iPhone, use Find My iPhone or the little uh Find Me or what's it called? Life 360 or something like that. Put an Apple Air tag on your child. Um, just anything because you never know what's going to happen, especially if you are not out trick-or-treating with your child and they are out with a different group. If you just want to, you know, just visibly keep tabs on what they're doing, just make sure you have some type of tracking device or system in place that you can keep up with your child. Um, costume invisibility, like I already mentioned, a lot of times these kids have costumes that are dark in nature. So, what I always do is I always make New Face get like a chem light or like a glow stick or something so that he can be seen. Or this year we might do like a reflective belt or different something like that. I'll have to get with the other kids' moms and see what it is that they want to do. I may have to go to the store and grab some stuff. If your child has a costume that has a mask or something, please make sure that your child can breathe in this mask. Please make sure that the eye holes are cut to where they can see as well. Make sure they have on proper fitting shoes. I don't recommend kids go trick-or-treating and Crocs. Crocs are good shoes, everybody wears them, but I always say like a front back shoe that's a shoe that has a front and a back and flat hard hard bottom just for safety reason because when you're out trick-or-treating, people drop stuff all the time. Um, and you want to be absolute careful um when you are out there, you don't want to accidentally step on glass or something because somebody dropped something or somebody broke something. Flashlights are a good thing as well. I do know that I have a flashlight, a wearable flashlight, one that I can wear on my head that I will probably um wear just so I don't have to hold anything in my hand. I bought it like eons ago when I went camping, and I rarely use it. So I think that this will be a good time um to go ahead and use it. Well, no, I used it last year, the hurricane. Um, when I used to take my dog out walking in the mornings, I used to wear it on my head, so I'll go ahead and bust that out as well. This is my biggest, biggest, biggest area. Um, because I I I've seen firsthand what can happen, and I've seen firsthand um what people do. Candy and food safety check. People have good intentions, and some people have bad intentions, and I never fault people for their intentions, right? So sometimes people can't afford to buy the candy and they feel like they shouldn't make home-baked goods. If New Face gets anything that is homemade in there, it's automatic to the trash. There are too many instances where kids have gotten baked goods and they they eat them and they are laced with drugs or a host of other things. Um, you don't know what's in them, you don't know what that person has like. You don't know if they have their hoarders or what you don't know what they make it with and your child has an allergy. So anytime there's baked goods, it's automatic. No, I carry a bag with me. So as they go to the houses, I check the candy on the spot. If there is something in there, like a piece of candy that got like a small rip or something like that, automatically in the trash. If it looked like it's been tampered with with any kind of way, if it looked like it's sticky, it looked like it's old, it looked like somebody sucked on the sucker and stuck it back in the wrapper and tried to wrap it up. I take my bag, I take it out and I put it in my bag. So it looks like I just have an overflow bag of candy, but really it's stuff that's gonna go in the trash because I have not deemed it safe for my child. Um, encourage candy and moderation. New face does not know what the hell this means, and so it gets to the point where I have to hide the candy, and it's even got to the point where I have taken the candy to work. I'll leave a couple of pieces of candy out, uh, not every day, but I leave a couple pieces of candy out here and there for him to have. But other than that, that boy eat the whole candy in a day if I would let him, and he be sneaking it. So I'm not making it visible this year, I'm not putting it to where he can have it. I'll leave a piece, a few pieces of candy out here and there, but I never leave all of the candy out. Um, I never leave out the candy that after I take what I want in there. Uh, so there's uh there's that. When you are out trick-or-treating, make sure that you are not walking in the street unless the street is blocked off with barricades of some sort. Um, because you do not want a car barreling down the street, and then they don't see your trick-or-treater. And every year I hear unfortunate stories about how kids are run over or hit by cars, and it's simply because the car is not it's not anything that the kid does, but it's simply because whoever is driving is not paying attention. Make sure you're utilizing sidewalks or if they have like makeshift walkways that are not being driven on, make sure you utilize those as well. Crosswalks just to ensure that we have safety. Um make eye contact with driving before you cross the street. If I can't see, if you can't see me, I can't see you. It's just like when you're driving and it's like you're looking in your mirror to because you're gonna switch lanes. If I can't see you, then that means you can't see me, and this is not safe. I always make sure I always put my hand up, like I always do stuff to get the driver's attention because too many times I have seen where drivers are just driving and they're looking and they're just looking at the different costumes and they're not paying attention what's in front of them. And I've seen too many people have had to stop real hard, and it's just not good at all. Um, it's just not good at all. So, not only for my trick-or-treaters, but to my drivers. If you drive and please, please, please make sure you are paying attention so that you do not hit one of these ghouls and goblins out here. Let's keep the kids safe. This is a fun night for them. They have the whole entire weekend. Please, please, please make sure you are being safe when you drive. Parents, if you have new team drivers, this is a night, please do not let them drive because there's a lot going on. There are millions and tons of people who are out there driving who are not paying attention, and it just could go bad. Um, it can go bad at all. Parents, this can be a nice, enjoyable night. Just make sure you are planning. Just make sure you are planning correctly so that every you have your safety in place, you have your uh food and candy inspections in place. Make sure you have your routes in place, just make sure everything is in place. There are some deals that are going on. I know Sonic normally does$50.$50. Oh Lord. Sonic normally does 50 cent corn dogs with no limit on those for Halloween. I have not seen as is as I am filming this, I have not seen any other deals that are going to be taking place on Halloween other than the Sonic 50 Cent corn dogs, because they do that every year, and typically we do that. I go get about tennis thawings, but I can't eat them no more. So I'll get some for New Face and the rest of the fan band. Um, so make sure you have a nice, safe, fun, spectacular uh night. Um, for my you can't make this up. This is an old story. I went trick-or-treating one time um in one of my ex's neighborhood. We had dressed up. When I tell y'all, like I ain't never seen no mosquitoes like this before. I had on a full-fledged outfit fully covered. When I tell you, the mosquitoes tore us to shreds. So I ain't even mentioned that. But now that I'm telling this story, let me mention that. Please take make sure you take some bug spray with you. If you don't like to do bug spray because you you're more of a natural person, you can use essential oils. You can use, I believe, lavender, tea tree, citrus, anything like lemon, orange, or anything like that. Anything like that, it keeps the bugs away. Mint, so peppermint oil, it keeps the bugs away. Um, they don't like that. So you can just mix that um about 10 drops with a little bit of water, spray it on yourself, um, and you should be good to go. And last but not least, for my song lyric of the week, of course, I gotta bring out an OG song, Michael Jackson, Thriller, Thriller Nights. I used to be so scared of that video because I'm like, why is I enjoying that? Like, oh my god. Like, I used to be scared, but now I'm like, oh man, this is like very artistic. Um, so yeah. And so if you have not already, please make sure you are liking and subscribing on our YouTube and our Instagram page at theggispod. Please make sure you are following us on your favorite podcast and app. And last but not least, please make sure you are sharing it with your friends. It costs zero dollars to share something with your friends. Please make sure if you have any comments, questions, concerns, please make sure you are sending them to at thegguspod at gmail.com. Please make sure you are leaving comments and positive five star reviews on your favorite podcasting app. I am your girl Charlie Shantae. This is the Gaggaz Podcast. Happy Halloween, guys.