Why was the Easter bunny arrested on Halloween? I live on a side street, but the street’s wide and cars go too fast on it. Because there’s a lot of children in the neighborhood, this serves to be quite a problem.

So how to slow traffic and keep things safe? A stuffed bunny in a chair right in the middle of the road would work. Put a scary mask on it so it fits in, and there’s an eye catching obstacle in the road. All the cars slowed down — slower than when they go through a school-crossing zone. What’s the harm? There didn’t seem to be any. Drivers were smiling at it.

But apparently it must have been against the law, because a cop showed up. He threw the chair onto the roadside and he commandeered the bunny and the mask. It was like he was arresting the bunny, because he put it in the back seat of the squad car where they put the criminals. Then he drove off.

Did he ask anybody why the bunny was guarding traffic? Did he consider that they sell yellow, plastic kid statues to put in the road for the same purpose? Did he ask if the bunny or the mask belonged to someone? Was that stuffed bunny someone special to some particular child? Why did the cop take the stuff? What does a cop want with a precious little bunny? Is he going to question it?

I enjoy Halloween and the trick-or-treating. I think it builds community and is a lot of fun.

This one wasn’t.

Pat Goldsmith