#21: When Your Halloween REALLY Gets Scary!

When you’re a kid, it seems like the world is against you; so many things can go wrong and you take it personally.

Halloween can be a source of soul-crushing disappointment and here’s why:

If the weather turns on you – which it so often does – you find yourself preparing a kick-ass costume no one will truly see! “What’s Timmy this year? An Arctic explorer? Again?”
Will Mom and Dad spring for an actual candy bucket this year, or will the stained pillow case make a horrifying return? Or worse, the Wal-Mart bag?
Will your parents give out cool candy to your classmates or will you be shunned the next day. It could be social suicide to live in a cheap household.
Neighborhoods inevitably shift demographics; fewer kids living on the street usually means older homeowners who can’t be bothered to hand out candy. At least, good candy, anyway!

People have gotten frugal in these tough economic times: you’ll notice fewer porch lights on this year, I guarantee it.
There is always at least one jackass who dresses up and lies in wait for unsuspecting kids. He leaps out, they scream (and even drop their candy sometimes!) and some poor parent has to pick up the emotional pieces!
You may run into schoolmates whose parents sprang for a cool new costume while you’re wearing an “economically challenged” outfit. You can’t wait for school the next day, can you?
Time is your enemy; you get hot and tired in a winter coat and costume and you just know the parental unit is going to run out of steam eventually. Can you snag some decent treats in time?

And finally…

Sooner or later you reach that awkward age and Halloween feels like “kid stuff” that you’ve evolved beyond. Now that is truly scary.