Smashing Pumpkins

Looks like pumpkins are a hot commodity again this year. Real hot. Where I live there have already been several instances of pumpkin thievery, and Halloween is still a week away. Some particularly smarmy thieves stole all the pumpkins out of an elementary school’s student pumpkin patch. And last week there was a story in the news of a three hundred pound pumpkin being stolen from a farmers market in Illinois. It’s a sad fact of life, but bright orange pumpkins just seem to scream “steal me”! Normally, it isn’t too hard to locate stolen pumpkins, they’re usually found not too far away from the scene of the crime, albeit in umpteen different pieces. It is true that pumpkins don’t generally cost too much, but that’s not the point, and their cheapness shouldn’t make them fair game. Most people who decorate with pumpkins have come to the bitter conclusion that you either take the pumpkins in at night, or you make plans to replace them on a regular basis. Replacing pumpkins is annoying, but not difficult. What is difficult is telling a five year old why some people feel the need to take and, or destroy those things that aren’t theirs.