I hate Halloween. Yep, I’m one of “them”. I started hating it WAAAAAAAY back in 4th grade, I believe. I had a costume that I LOVED – a black cat. My mother had actually MADE it for me. A tail. A hood with ears. I wore black pants and socks and shirt. She drew whiskers on my face. I LOVED it. I was a black cat in 3rd grade. In 4th grade I was a black cat again. And my classmates made fun of me. I’d been a black cat the year BEFORE. THAT wasn’t a good costume. Just like that – the holiday was totally ruined for me. Every year after that, the whole thing became a drag. To this day I hate it. The best costume that I have ever heard of is no costume. Get a picture frame, and when people ask what/who you are, look through the frame and say “I’m an extremely life-like portrait of myself.”
Over the years as a homeowner, I grew to despise this “holiday” even more. First there were all the years when hooligans roamed the streets, soaping cars, smashing pumpkins and in general destroying whatever they could. The “kids” who knocked on my door (despite the darkened lights) were rarely in costume, were old enough to spawn their own offspring, and never even said “trick or treat”. They’d grunt and hold out pillow cases. Right.
Times changed and now it really is more little children in costumes with parents waiting at the sidewalk. Most of them are cute and some even have costumes. Perhaps 50% of them say “trick or treat”. The other 50% merely shove their bags at you. I do think that most, even the ones who do NOT say T or T, do say thank you.
But why are we doing this? There’s no purpose. It’s blackmail. I have to go out, buy a bunch of whatever to give away to a bunch of beggars. Even after we turn off our porch light there are people who come and pound on the door. Our doorbell has not worked for years. My dog goes crazy at the noise and the people. It’s not MY holiday. That wouldn’t matter if the trick or treaters actually followed “the rules”. I remember what it was like to be little and go out trick or treating. You had to knock. You had to say “trick or treat”. You had to wait to have the homeowner GIVE you something. You had to say thank you. If the light was off, you didn’t go there. *shrug*.
Sorry. For me, this is a colossal nuisance and a holiday I could live without. I confess that I had no problems with having the holiday cancelled by the governor for the last 2 years. Tomorrow is supposed to be near 70 and clear weather. Sigh. Maybe it’s not too late to take me dog and flee.
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