Where was I when Halloween became a major holiday?!By major, I mean, spiders the size of a small car affixed to the side of the house and roof, house and yard converted to a cemetary, a special effects haunted house in the back yard, and holographic images and scary movies projected onto the garage door.
When did we get away from a single carved pumpkin on the porch, rubber bats hanging in the window, and fake spiders and cobwebs in the doorway?
As a kid, my costume consisted of my mom making up my face, putting her big loop earrings in my ear, tying a colorful scarf around my head, dressing me in a puffy white blouse and peasant skirt, putting a fancy belt around my waist and bracelets on my wrists -- voila I was a gypsy! I was about 6.
We went knocking door-to-door on our street and in our immediate neighborhood. That was it. We didn't pile into the car and drive across town, for "good" candy. I didn't know there was "bad" candy. I got to play dress-up. People gave me candy just for ringing the doorbell, smiling, and yelling trick-or-treat! I got to stay up late. Nothing bad about any of that!
Ok, maybe anything licorice-flavored and that orange candy corn could be considered "bad".
And just how old are trick-or-treaters supposed to be? 5? 7? 9? Half the kids I saw trick-or-treating were either too young to walk (isn't candy a choking hazard?!) or in high school. If you can't say trick-or-treat, have breasts, or facial hair, you probably should not be trick-or-treating!
I'm not sayin' we shouldn't let the kids celebrate Halloween. I'm just sayin' it seems like we've gone a bit overboard. But, what do I care, we weren't even at home.
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