One of my favorite holidays is coming up … Halloween!
I used to wait for it with great anticipation as a kid, as I enjoyed meeting and greeting people at their doors for trick-or-treat-and the treats were not all that bad, either.
There was nothing like it to come home and empty a big bag of goodies on the kitchen table to ponder my good fortune and to create little piles of similar candies, just to see how they all added up. There were always stories to tell the family about someone who was especially nice-and gave big candy bars-or someone who was exceptionally grumpy, and did not leave a good impression.
Frankly, I think that Halloween trick-or-treating as well as selling Girl Scout cookies door-to-door was a precursor to my being able to work precincts politically. It is amazing just where a political career will start!
What is sad, now, is that youngsters won’t be able to get the fun kinds of treats we used to get. People would actually make goodies to give away. There was nothing like a homemade popcorn ball, all sticky and gooey. And, there were carmel apples, which Kraft would start advertising weeks before to encourage such treats. Some apples were just plain and probably quite healthy for us, though the carmel apples were ever so much more revered.
Every once in a while, a fine homeowner would actually bake cupcakes or cookies for us. Those rarely made it home as active trick-or-treaters needed sustenance along the way to keep up their energy. After all, it was not all that easy going up and down all the stairs one had to navigate in a day’s worth of work.
Now, however, everything has to be store-bought and wrapped else concerned moms and dads will worry that some nasty human being conjured up something harmful or dangerous for the little trick-or-treaters. One wonders how or why anyone would consider razor blades or pins, broken glass or other hurtful items to put into Halloween treats. But, there are crazies in the world, and little kids are ever so vulnerable.
Now, too, I worry about the increase in traffic as the little ones cross streets with abandon as they try to hit every house they can in their limited hours. Cars were always something to watch out for, but now there are more of them.
Some areas have banned trick-or-treating altogether while providing municipal Halloween parties and other events to provide an alternative. I guess the world is just much more dangerous, and our little, innocent forays into neighborhoods near and far are another thing to be just fondly remembered.
I will be overbuying candy, as usual, with the residuals going to the office, lest I wind up eating the sweets and putting on extra weight, which is not needed. I heard that a gal from Berwyn gives away small tubes of toothpaste. Clever! Something like that is usable, good for kids, a cute idea. And then, there is always change, as in money. My grandmother used to give pennies, but with inflation and such, I think we might be up to a quarter in today’s terms.
And just think, once the frost goes on the pumpkin, Christmas is just around the corner.
