This article is part of our BOO(b) Week Series: in honor of Halloween and Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we are publishing an article each day about boos, boobs, or both.
Happy Halloween everybody!
Halloween is a very strange holiday for me. I both relish and despise it’s coming. Why? I’ll tell you. No reason for a long introduction.
Pros: Why I Love Halloween
-
FREE CANDY. If you don’t know this, dear reader, I have a killer sweet tooth. I was the kid who ate the Dominos sugar packets at restaurants. I was the kid who could black out for 45 minutes and wake up from a nap surrounded by Heath Bar wrappers (this has happened twice). I was the kid whose favorite food for thirteen years was a Snickers. So Halloween was like the second coming of Christ. I would take the candy I collected and divide it up into type (sour, chocolatey, nonchocolate sweets, etc.) and then by brand. I planned what I would save for myself and what I’d trade with my friends to get more of the candy I wanted. Then I’d eat it. I used to savor it, but as I got older the stockpile deteriorated within a couple of weeks. I love sugar. It’s an issue.
-
Going out late. I never wanted to go to bed on time. I liked to stay up late and read, or play solitaire, or do origami. So Halloween was a free pass to be awake late without the risk of getting in trouble.
-
Going out with friends. I went to a different middle school than all of my best friends. Getting to spend time with them (and then running into other friends around town) was always a big plus, since I didn’t get to see them all the time.
-
Walking around my town. I walked home from my high school my senior year. It was 2.5 miles, and I loved it. I adore walking, especially around my town. This stems from getting to walk around during Halloween and finding small hidden streets.
Cons: Why I Hate Halloween
-
My scheming brother’s sweet tooths. I love my brothers, they are good people…. Just not when it comes to sugar. Any sugary item in my house has a shelf life of approximately two days before my brothers and I eat it all. My oldest brother, Will, had the biggest sugar addiction out of all of us. A week after trick or treating, he ate everything he had gotten. What’s left? My candy stash. It was a huge issue in my household; Will, sharing my candy preferences, often nicked my coveted Snickers and Reese’s, leaving me with Whoppers. I hated Whoppers, ergo I hated him during this season.
-
It got rained out. A lot. My Halloween career included two heavy rainstorms, one tropical storm (Irene) and a hurricane (Sandy), which meant that the holiday was either ended early or flat out cancelled by our mayor. Happy Hallo-vember, everybody.
-
Not living close enough to the best candy houses. The best houses were on Gordonhurst. I’m talking full-size Milky Way. This street was pretty close by to me as well. Seems like a great place, right? Nope. It was always just out of reach, just a few blocks too far. I never got those Milky Ways. I will never forget the pain this has caused me.
-
Costumes. I consider myself to be creative and imaginative, just not for costumes. I’m too lazy to go all out, but too embarrassed to not commit at all. I was a witch in the same witch costume for a few years, I just couldn’t be asked to choose something.
All in all, Halloween is the start of the holiday season, so it’s symbolic nature is good enough to make me excited for it every year. Get excited, Charlie Brown. It’s Great Pumpkin season.
SaveSave