Where have all the Trick-Or-Treater's gone...

Hey there! Halloween was a few days ago and I'm still a little puzzled about it. If you read my last post, you saw how Halloween is my favorite holiday. My kids love the day as well (on a healthy level compared to me...) and like every other kid, they are always excited to go trick or treating. Why wouldn't they be? You get to dress up, ring a doorbell and say TRICK OR TREAT!!! That's it! You follow the simple steps and you're treated with candies galore! We have this neighborhood that we go to every year (yes, I'm one of those who invade another neighborhood, get over it) and we go there for two reasons. One, we always have a parking spot and because it's one giant loop, we can walk in one big circle and then we're DONE! Two, the houses are HUGE.. Not like that means that much. They still buy the fun size of everything and there's still a limit... That aside, the kids walk out with a full bucket and are happy with their lot. A perfect ending to a wonderfully haunted season. When I was younger and in those days myself, we headed ALL OVER the place. We lived in the country so a lot of our stops were out in the middle of nowhere. We didn't care how many times we had to get in and out of the car (for the parents it may have been another story but they took us anyway!) as long as it meant us going home with a pile of candy that was OURS. Sure, parents checked it out for loose packaging and possible poisonings... That was just what you did. Part of the deal just in case some ass clown decided that injecting arsenic into a chocolate bar was something they needed to do. Thankfully though, the only thing close to poisonous were the occasional black licorice pieces or the nasty peanut butter things that came in either orange or black wrappers... Mary Jane's I want to say.. GROSS! Then there was candy sorting, trading, hiding, sneaking.. You know, normal kid to candy tendencies. It was and is an amazing tradition. Almost sacred. That being said... back to a few days ago... On our way to this neighborhood we visit, we passed an ASS LOAD of churches. (Just swallow your disgust please and move on...) Anyway. As we passed these overloaded areas, we couldn't help but stare at what was happening there... Trunk or treat... So if you're unfamiliar with these things, they go down like this... It's usually at a church or other business (the mall, dealership, etc.) and your kids can dress up to get a bulk of candy in ONE spot (people's trunks in the parking lot) and then BAM! You're done. So... driving by these fantastic groupings... this is what we saw.. LINES! We're talking jam packed parking lot and TONS of kids with their parents waiting in a LINE to get candy! If you've ever been to a theme park, this is an excellent comparison.. Think of the hot new roller coaster at the time and the horrible dreaded line that proceeded it... That's what Trunk or treat is like... Sounds like fun right? Yeah, I don't think so either.. But we passed more... and MORE.. Every lot FILLED with these.. people. We made it to our neighborhood, unloaded everyone and started the walk. By the end of the loop, the kids had maybe half of a plastic pumpkin full of candy. There were HALF as many houses as there were last year... So I have to ask, where have all the trick or treater's gone?!? Later that night as I scrolled through my phone I read that an asshole in New York rented a truck and mowed down a crowd of people killing eight. On Halloween... People dressed up, hanging out, just enjoying the holiday... That's when I started to realize something awful... Times today are very different from when I was toting around MY plastic pumpkin. Nowadays, (not something I thought I'd say for a LONG time...) the world is much darker and crazier than before. So much more twisted that something as simple and sacred as trick or treating is now viewed as possibly dangerous..? So much so that the safe alternative is to gather in large groups at businesses waiting in lines for $7 worth of candy? What's stopping the next crazy person who gets a wicked idea from plowing into THOSE crowds like the one in New York? It's a horrible spiral of unfortunate events. My dad told me "times are changing". No Dad, they've changed. I hope it's not all for the worst... But the dwindling numbers of simple trick or treaters doesn't give me too much hope.. Maybe I'm crazy. Okay, well I AM crazy but still.. Am I alone on this stuff? Are we doomed to long lines for everything? Aye, aye, aye.... Anyway, I hope you had a great Halloween no matter how you spent it. Fingers crossed for Thanksgiving... Let's hope there's not some wicked bird flu that forces us all to eat turkey shaped tofu or something... Not IMPOSSIBLE I guess... Have a good day everyone!

-SuperMom