My friends and I would meet up at dusk, plan out our route, and walk from house to house until we had blisters on our feet or our bags were too filled with candy to carry anymore.
Then we'd keep going.
Now, as an adult, Halloween has a different meaning. There's the grown-up side (parties, girls in slutty costumes, lots of alcohol) but also the 'giving out candy and going "AWWWW" to all the kids in their costumes' side.
But wait... where are all the kids?
I purchased the mandatory bag of candy, and waited. No kids. Over the last 2 Halloweens, I have only seen 3 people at my doorstep.
Why?
The definition of trick or treating has changed. At least in Idaho...
In modern times, the candy-givers all congregate in one general area, making it easier (and safer?) for the kids. Events like "Trick or Treat Street" or "Boo at the Zoo" or "Trunk or Treat" take all the adventure and hard work out of it.
I know we live in an age where everybody knows everything about everyone else. There are databases of child predators, and strangers in big vans saying "Free Candy, Get Inside." But all of these things existed 20ish years ago too, when my friends and I were hitting the streets. You just knew which houses or hoods to avoid.
I mean, come on. I lived in the fucking ghetto. If you go knocking on a door, saying "TRICK OR TREAT" at one of the meth houses, you'd be shot. Yet my friends and I still did our thing. Parent free.
I'm not saying to send your kids out unaccompanied, and hope they come back sometime before midnight. It's 2011, and you'll get CPS called on you if you're letting your kid wander the streets. But what ever happened to EARNING your candy? Walking miles, knocking on door to door, saying please-and-thank-you to complete strangers, all in the name of a sugar rush?
I'd like to start a theme. Bring it back in 2012. No blisters, no candy. EARN the sugar if you want it, kids. I did. It builds character.
