It's Halloween Again
I might not be a good person. For over thirty years I've retreated from trick or treaters, usually choosing to go out for dinner on Halloween with an extra trip to the bookstore and coffee shop just to kill time. Then I sneak back into the house, refusing to turn on any lights. I'm not sure what made me such a grouchy old man when it comes to this particular night. I love seeing the pictures of my grandkids dressed up every year. I've even traveled and gone with one of my granddaughters on her rounds. Part of it for me is that it's always been my job at my house to answer the door. No matter who knocks, I'm the one who deals with every talkative neighbor, every door-to-door salesman and every un-costumed sullen teenager wearing a hoody and holding a bulging pillowcase full of candy on October 31. At this stage of my life, I'd just give the teenager the candy and not worry about it because I am lot more relaxed than I used to be.
I used to work with a great guy who was an electrical engineer for Westinghouse. He was a hero of mine. He'd survived a horrible North Vietnamese Army ambush as a 19-year-old and been left for dead on the battlefield. He walked with a pronounced limp because part of his foot had been shot away. This guy lived for Halloween. He planned for it all year and he always went all out with sound effects playing from speakers and his teenaged kids stationed strategically around the yard doing role-playing of mummies and vampires. His wife was just as into it as he was and I always enjoyed listening to him getting progressively excited through the month of October waiting for the big day. I haven't seen him since the 90s but I just hope he's as into it as he ever was.
Maybe 2024 will be the year I suck it up. Maybe I'll stay home this year with a giant bag of the good stuff, Reese's Cups for everyone. I can afford it If everyone was like I've been for so long, then the kids would all be disappointed and I'd feel horrible. Besides, I'll probably get a kick out of seeing the costumes. Maybe I'll just take a chair and set myself up in the carport with the candy bowl while I protect Wonder Woman from all the little ankle biters.
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