Halloween has gone through a massive change in my lifetime. When I was young everyone was out doing the 'trick or treat' dance. Costumes were important and on Halloween night large groups of kids did not mean that the gangs were out participating in violence.
It meant that the kids had their own holiday. And it truly belonged to us! We had a hard time understanding the concept when it was first explained to us. You mean on this particular night when we knock on strange doors and say three words people will give us candy? It's all free? Just say trick or treat? Who made up this holiday? I was totally vested in on this one. Every kid in America joined up in this club and stayed in it as long as they could. With a brother and a sister, we would have three pillowcases filled with candy and we would lay it all out on the living room floor and make trades. We also discovered there were some candy bars that my mother loved. If we wanted to keep those, we had to hide them.
It also meant we traded information on that night about locations. We found out Floyd's house was giving awy Snickers so everyone would make sure to stop at Floyds. Down at Mary's it was raisins and we all skipped that one.
But things were starting to get dangerous. There were adults out there seeking to hurt us and it was no longer as safe. Now the entire format has changed. I just heard the terminology of 'trunk or treat' where at a church or school a whole bunch of parents gather together with their cars. The cars have candy in the trunk to hand out and the kids go from car to car.
Now there are a bunch of trick or treat parties done in the safety of a hall, a mall, or a safe set of selected houses.. All candies now go through an inspection process to make sure there are no razor blades.
In the end the holiday has been taken away from kids. It's not their holiday anymore because suddenly it is not safe. I miss it.
Then there is the realization that Halloween is actually a pagan holiday of All Hallows Eve when all the ghosts and goblins are out. It is so interesting that the Catholic Church celebrates November 1st as All Saints Day when the saints are all celebrated.
All I know is I want my pillowcase back.............
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