Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween, Bah humbug!

Is it just me, or does halloween seem to be lacking in purpose? Groups of kids, most of whom I don't know, will show up at my door with bags open while their parents wait in the car at the curb. Only about half of them will be in costume and few, if any, will show any imagination. Entertainment? Forget it. No songs, no jokes, no tricks. Most won't even know who they are supposed to be. Doesn't anyone discuss the significance of the costumes with them?

The big kids come without costume. They might wear a sweat shirt that lets me know their high school. What business do they have extorting candy? Now that cars no longer have hubcaps, kids seem to have lost their sense of mischief.

It's the adults that get me. You know the ones. They show up at the office in clothes that should have long ago been consigned to the thrift shop or the dumpster. So, who are you supposed to be? I'm a hippy from the 70's, man. Get real. If you want to dress obnoxiously, save it for Super Bowl Sunday.

I went to a Halloween party on Friday where a woman showed up in high heels, fishnet stockings, black skirt and white blouse open half way down. She said she was a sexy teacher. She was a little scary because she was well-endowed and threatened to spill out, but what does sexy teacher have to do with ghosts and goblins? I'm not against sexy costumes. I believe a little costume action can spice up a relationship, but there are more appropriate days on the calendar to take it public. Valentine's Day, May Day, and Midsummer's Eve come to mind.

With a sixteen-week football season in the fall and a month of spring break in March do we need another excuse to behave badly? My opinion is that Halloween has lost its meaning and is now just a run up to the season of greed. I say Halloween, bah humbug!

5 comments:

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

This one made me laugh!

Bah humbug for Halloween--never thought of it that way. Certainly it doesn't have the appeal for me that it used to, but I'd probably like it much better if I were still young.

Christine Duncan said...

Lost it's purpose? Lacking in meaning? Oh no!
Halloween is watching, It's the great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown even though you no longer have any little kids to watch it with you--it's stomping on great big piles of leaves and hearing them crackle under your feet. It's opening the door to a bunch of little kids and telling them you won't give them candy until you figure out what they are! (And watching their faces!)
It's teasing the teenagers who come to the door by telling them the same thing!
Halloween is fun--doesn't cost all that much--and comes relatively free of relatives. What more can you ask?

Jean Henry Mead said...

Bah humbug! LOL, Mark. You must dress up like Scrooge for Halloween.

Mark Troy said...

Actually, I've always been fascinated by Marley's ghost with all those clinking chains. What an idea! Thanks Jean. That's the way to launch the Christmas season.

And Christine, I like the free of relatives advantage of Halloween. Right now, We're sitting at home, in our pajamas (talk about scary), working our way through a box of wine and waiting for my son to send the pics of our grandkids in their costumes.

Morgan Mandel said...

I never seemed to come up with any great costumes when I was a kid. Also, we never had good weather for Halloween. This is the first time in a long time that there was great weather around here and kids could show off their costumes.

Yes, it looked like a lot of them were store-bought, not much imagination. Then again, I never had much either. (g)
Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com