Trick or treating in a café

[PonyinShorts]

So today I was in a chain café in central London and two girls around the age of 12 walked in, one with a bucket, one with a woolly hat held upside down, and asked the people sitting at the tables "trick or treat?". They weren't even dressed up for Halloween, just wearing their regular clothes. I'm not sure many people go around with lots of sweets in their pockets or bags so I guess the "treat" they expected was money? Or did they want my half-eaten sandwich? Everyone in the café looked a bit taken aback.

AIBU to think this is a bit odd? Also, is this a new thing? I've never witnessed anything like it before.

Some people must think “aw, how cute” at the time, give money and then later realise they may have been scammed by 2 12 year olds 😂

Security 📣

Reminds me a bit of 'Penny for the Guy' when I was a child. Blatant begging for cash! I can remember my sister and me doing it outside a shop (with a very rubbish guy) and getting told off by some woman (who I'm sure would have gone home and ranted about us on MN if MN had been invented then).

@BabyCloud
Seriously? You’d call security (in a cafe?) for a couple of kids trying their luck? You wouldn’t just grin at their sheer nerve and say no thanks?

I remember. The joy of seeing the minimum effort guy in a borrowed pushchair brought around by kids for days beforehand.

Surely that’s called begging?