Remember Halloween as a kid? It was awesome.
Two to three months out you were already planning what you wanted to
dress up as. The stores didn’t
have the Halloween costumes out at the end of August like they do now. You actually had to wait until the end
of September or come up with your own, hand-made costume.
One year I went dressed as Cinderella and I had one of those
old-school plastic masks with the eyeholes, nose-holes and tiny slit for your mouth. These were the most uncomfortable sweat
devices that were supposed to stay on your head with the very tiniest and
cheapest rubber string attached with a staple on each side. This is why parents did not want you
playing with the masks before it was time to trick-o-treat because that stupid
string would end up breaking. Bad
enough when it broke on Halloween during the treating process and you had to
just hold the mask up to your face as you rang the doorbell. Let’s not even discuss the mistakes of
poking your tongue through the sharp-edged slit. I never learned.
Costumes now are just so much better. Breathable masks and costumes that
actually look real instead of the printed, plastic sheath I wore with my
easily-cracked mask. I guess my
generation finally grew up and started making costumes for the masses. Upgrade. Although kids now when never appreciate the creativity it
took to keep that entire plastic costume in tact throughout the night.
I grew up where, by the end of October, there was a good
chance there would be snow on the ground or you would have to wear some type of
coat because your mom wouldn’t let you out on the streets if you might freeze
to death. Try stuffing a winter
coat under your plastic Cinderella costume. Or even worse, wear a hat and stretch that rubber string to
the max. Hmm, all of a sudden…not
very princess-y.
The nice thing about growing up in a small town is that you
trusted everyone, and so did your parents. You tried to hit every house as fast as you could, trying to
fill up the paper grocery bag, pillow case or other candy carrying item(s). If you had to take a younger sibling,
you basically dragged them along and tried to teach them rules of maximizing
the amount of candy in the shortest amount of time. This included cutting corners to save time and ignore the
sidewalk if it meant a longer distanced between you and the doorbell. Always say “thank you” and look
cute. If you hear a neighbor is
giving out weird crap, skip it.
Why waste the time to get a box of raisins when the next house night
have a Snickers? If you need to
warm up, but still want to collect candy, hit the indoor apartment
complex. Talk about a
goldmine. By the time you are
done, you are warmed up and ready to hit the streets again.
No cell phones back then meant your parents had to wait
until you got home to know you are safe, unless they went with you and that was
just embarrassing. Now, especially
in a big city, someone might call CPS if they saw two little kid walking door
to door in the dark. Now parents
can track their kids with GPS phones and look up any pervs in the
neighborhood. Too high tech.
The spirit of Halloween is a bit lost too. God forbid you actually scare a kid on
Halloween. I remember my brother
dressing up as a scary scarecrow on sitting on the porch to scare kids as they
came to the door. So awesome. Now, I would be too worried about being
sued or hit by a parent. There are
some houses that go all out and, I am impressed. I hope the kids (and parents) actually appreciate the
effort.
True confession…I am a hypocrite. Since I have grown-up, Halloween has become a huge
pain. I have NO desire to sit in
and answer the door 100 times a night to hand out candy. I bet half of these kids don’t even say
“thank you.” Not cool,
parents. Manners for kids, it’s not
an app on your phone but maybe it should be.
So, as the little kids start their evening of trick or
treating, I will turn off my light and sit and watch TV in the darkest room in
the back of my place eating the Halloween candy I bought for myself…
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