Piñata ponderings

Piñatas are extremely popular party items here. Ellyn has been to a couple of parties lately and has taken her whacks as well as enjoyed the resultant candy cascade. At the most recent party we attended (a wonderful affair, thanks for the invite!), the piñata of choice was the disembodied head of Cookie Monster. That was fine up until the point that it was hung on the gallows rope for its whacking. That was a little creepy looking.

But apart from that I still have some reservations about the whole piñata thing.

First, I have seen enough episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos to know that where there is a piñata, invariably somebody's going to get whacked, and it is usually the adults.

Second, I wonder about the long term personal and cultural consequences of the implicit message that if you beat someone enough times with a stick, candy will come out.