I do remember Halloween from when I was a kid. We always had such a grand time. We didn't have the fears that are present today. However, most parents did have some rules.
One rule was not to go into the home of someone you didn't know. One Halloween we broke that rule. Why? I don't know, caught up in the excitement maybe. Two women of an indeterminate age lived in this house. We had to pass their house on the way to and from school each day. It always looked kind of mysterious. Not haunted just a weird sort of place. Anyway, there we were, 6 or 7 of us looking for our handout. They invited us in so they could get a better look at our costumes. Once we were all inside the door, one of them closed the door. And locked it, gulp. Then the lights went out. We let out a collective squeal. We heard the tow women laughing. Some of us started to cry. After what seemed like an eternity the lights came back on. The women offered us hot chocolate. We declined and scampered out just as fast as we could. I doubt we ever broke that rule again.
One of the best places to go for candy was the Nun's house. All the nun's would come to the door. There were 12 nuns that lived there. Each one handed out her own piece of candy. She had to Ohhh and Awww over our costumes. Imagine, 12 pieces of candy in one stop!.
The really best place to stop was the local Ben Franklin. The owner was always there and let us pick out our own candy from what he normally sold. It didn't even have to be from the penny candy. It could be 5 cent candy bar. Wow!
I remember one time the person came to the door and told us it would have to be trick before he gave us a treat. We explained to him that the trick was of the TPing variety. He told us no that we had to preform some sort of trick for him. I think we did somersaults across his lawn. We did eventually get our treat but we had to work for it.
Our streets were in alphabetical order. We started at M and went to U. The we went back to M and went to A. We didn't go to Z because that would have meant crossing the highway and that was the BIG rule. We started on 39Th and went up to 34Th. We worked both sides of the streets. The alphabet ran north and south, the numbers were east and west.
One year someone attacked my brother's bag. Slit it right down the side. Fortunately, we were under a street lamp. We could see most of the candy and were able to pick it up. We were only a few blocks from home. We went home and traded out the bags. Then we got a fresh start.
I don't see anything wrong with organized Halloween parties but I do think the kids miss out on the actual trick or treating. I mean it was just so much fun to run wild, without adult supervision, and be crazy for a few hours. Kids today don't get that same chance. Either they are at a supervised party or there is a parent waiting curbside for them. Not a chance to go a little crazy.
Now as an adult, I don't have to wait for Halloween to act/get a little crazy. It is one of the perks of being a parent.
No comments:
Post a Comment