Trick or Treat- What Are We Prepping For?

Halloween used to be a lot more fun. Back in the America 1.0 days of yore. The only thing you had to fear was a razor blade in an apple. But even that was probably an urban legend. Candy was better. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups taste different now. More people participated. I never wanted to “trick” anybody, and never did. Give me treats.

But enough nostalgia. Maybe it wasn’t as great as I remember it. Sure, as a pathfinding early era obese kid, I put forth quite an effort on Halloween. I’d fill up a bag, or better yet a pillowcase, return home and empty it, then start out again. I wandered far and wide, with no parental supervision. As I’ve noted before, the 1960s were memorable for lots of things, including a shocking lack of pedophiles. I never saw a “bad stranger,” even on Halloween night. The one thing we had going against us was the fact our trick-or-treating path was limited to single family homes. Townhouses were uncommon then, and no apartments were around me. Townhouses and apartments can be a bonanza for kids desperately seeking candy. You can knock on a whole lot more doors without having to cover any more ground. My kids benefited from this wisdom, which I sagely passed on to them. You know you’re living in a more innocent time when parents sent their children out to knock on stranger’s doors and ask for candy. At night. I mean, weren’t they telling us not to accept candy from strangers at the same time? Except on Halloween. We didn’t question it.