Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

I have never liked Halloween, although I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because it’s really about begging more than it is about doing tricks on people.

Perhaps it’s because as a child I didn’t go “Trick or Treating.” I lived in a high rise in more than one place, and it never occurred to my Mother to take me door-to-door. Even if she had, I’m not sure the other residents would have been in on the game.

It’s not that I’m a curmudgeon when the situation requires otherwise.  I’ve shelled out my share of candy when my sons were little.  It seemed only fair, when my husband was taking them around that I man (or is that ‘person’ the home front) and proffer candy to the little ones.  I will say, I also offered a can of beer to any father who showed up with his offspring.

But today’s Halloween is a far cry from my children’s version.  Back then we made costumes.  Now there are stores when you buy them.  Back then it the event was confined to one night when children rang neighborhood doorbells.  Now, at least where I live, the downtown area must host a Trick or Treat Night and shell out candy to children who really have no buying power.  It seems like commercialization run rampant.