Woman living on the streets addresses parents who put child in 'homeless person' Halloween costume

Every Halloween, people get creative with costumes, often trying to stand out. But sometimes, costumes can cross a line, unintentionally offending or trivializing real struggles. In one recent case, a homeless woman from Maine called out parents who dressed their young son as a homeless person, unintentionally mocking a serious issue. The woman, who goes by @fatuglydyk3 on TikTok, shared her reaction on the platform, sparking an important discussion.

The woman posted two photos of a boy dressed as a homeless person for Halloween through a slideshow and pointed out everything that's wrong with such a costume. The child was wearing worn-out jeans held by a thread, a t-shirt and a jacket with a black beanie. He also had fake dirt marks all over his face. The costume even consisted of a child-size dollar general cart with a dog plushie, a paper bag and a jack-o-lantern for the child to collect candy from people. The boy held a cardboard sign that said, "Will work for candy. Anything helps."

The costume’s portrayal of real struggles hit a nerve with the woman, who called out the child’s parents and shared her concerns. In a text overlay on one photo, she wrote, "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 calling out to a God I don’t believe in.” In the next slide, she continued, "Our struggle is not your costume, and anyone could be one paycheck away." The woman pointed out how important it was to teach children empathy in such circumstances instead of making them wear such a costume on Halloween. The post received over 359k views and more than 32.7k likes.

People took to the comments section of the post to support the woman and to share their own experiences. @fablehide wrote, "The whole situation is awful. Being raised this way is an unkindness being done to the child and the rest of us." @kali.maka commented, "Getting out of homelessness was the most exhausting, uphill work I have ever done and the lasting effects are still alive in my life today. It happened so suddenly that you don't know what tomorrow holds."

@jwhitxo remarked, "I still have such a bad trauma because of my time with homelessness that I carry a backpack instead of a purse everywhere, so I always have everything I need in a box at the back of my car with TP, chargers, clothes, etc." @blake7872 shared, "Dude, my family and I literally started out in the street when I was four and my brother was only 8. I remember so much pain and coldness. I still feel like I don't have a home and it could just slip away." @maggie.menso.12 expressed, "I live in Detroit and all I could think about was the kind man who lives by the corner by my apartment and how I worry about him every night because it is starting to get cold."

You can follow @fatuglydyk3 on TikTok for more lifestyle content.