“Our Struggle Is Not Your Costume” — Homeless Woman Blasts Child’s Halloween Outfit
"This is a disgusting costume."
Published Oct. 30 2024, 4:00 a.m. ET
A self-proclaimed "chronically unhoused" Maine resident shared their disgust for a child's Halloween costume. Accusing the kid and their parents of cultural appropriation, TikTok's "Homeless Vigilante" who posts under the username @fatuglydyk3 criticized the kid for dressing like a homeless panhandler.
In a TikTok slideshow, she called out the parents for showing a child in tattered clothes holding up a cardboard sign that reads: "Will work for candy anything helps."
His costume is rounded out with a plastic shopping cart toy with a stuffed dog inside of it. On the front of the cart is a Dollar General sign.
The TikToker didn't mince words when calling out just how they felt about the costume idea. They expressed what it was like being homeless and living on the street. They didn't think it was cute or funny that someone dressed their kid up as someone who was homeless for Halloween.
"There were nights when it was so cold I would just lay awake on the concrete and scream because of the pain. Claw at my tendons, desperately call out to a god I don't even believe in."
Some might argue that if the entire point of Halloween is to scare people, however, that the kid's costume might've accomplished that goal. Maybe his costume is so scary that it serves as a warning sign for folks who are worried about how their own futures might turn out if they don't apply themselves.
Others believed that the costume was just insensitive to the plights others are undergoing in this country. Since 2021, inflation has wreaked havoc on the bank accounts of Americans all across the country.
The Homeless Vigilante's post had a second photo attached with it that calls into question another recurring theme: appropriation. "Our struggle is not your costume and anyone could be one paycheck away. Teach your children empathy."
The cost of home ownership has also soared in recent years. Currently, it is more difficult for the average United States citizen to purchase a home now than it was for Americans during the Great Depression.
What do you think of the child's Halloween costume? Is it just an edgy joke that folks should take as such and not be so offended by? Or is it fundamentally unfunny?
