A haunting we will go

Our house is on a big street, but the sidewalk on our side ends one house past us, so people tend not to visit unless they know us, especially once it gets dark. So one box of full sized candy bars from BJs is way more than enough.

 

Dangit. Was hoping for ghost stories.

It rained here, so there were not little beggars. I took two virtual studio workshops and watched Beetlejuice with the momster. Well, I did get paid for some ghost writing, which was fitting for th date.

Happy All Saints/Dia de los Muertos. Will be putting out Three Musketeers for Dad.

 

Is it still considered "left over" Halloween candy if you don't get any trick or treaters?

 

Watching Coco with my daughter tonight, then going to our first one of these tomorrow in a neighboring town. Kind of excited.

 

Little man went out about 6:30, he went hard for about a half hour then wanted to come home. We circled the neighborhood and came home.

My area has a lot of little ones so the groups came in waves. We left a bowl out so we could get little Spartan to bed. Refilled it a few times but about 8 or so, I just handed half a bag to some teenagers. We ration my kid’s candy and I didn’t want a bunch of stuff until Memorial Day.

 

Speaking of Halloween candy bowls, I always laugh my ass off at people complaining on Facebook about how someone emptied their bowl. And they whine and complain about teens ruining it.

A) this happens every year and every time someone leaves candy out. Don’t act surprised that it happens

B) You are trying to get rid of this candy, why are you pissed you succeeded? Yeah you want everyone to get a piece and you want it to be fair, but (capital B-U-T) you aren’t offering what they can’t get from every other house and have you seen the size of candy stashes kids get? They aren’t missing out because someone chugged your bowl. Yeah they’re dicks for doing it and I’d be irked if my son did that, but honestly, see the beginning of part B.

 

Halloween 2019 nearly broke me of liking it. I blame the Mommies.
A few ywars ago, people in my little bedroom community adopted The Teal Pumpkin campaign. For those of you unfamiliar this is a way to let children with T1DM, T2DM, Chrones, and food allergies know you are giving away treats that are safe for them. A week or two before Halloween that year, some parents (actually more like the fatass grammaws) were complaining about their kids getting whatever was trendy when they should be getting chocolate batsd with caramel "like they give out in the good neighborhoods."

I decided after two years of parents femanding both the candy treats and the Teal Pumpkin treats "'cause it might be sump'n good" it was time to just give everyone a non-edible goodie and be donme with it. I put together a bag that had and three Japanese Godzilla stickers, a tiny Sanrio bottle of bubble stuff, and a Universal Monsters eraser. I made sure the neighborhood kids were covered and then gav e most ofthe remainders to all comers. It got a little crazy, with Mommies mrching upwith their kids and demanding extras.

I turned out the light when I thouht the last ToTer and Mommy showed up at 8:40-ish. As I turned off the porch light as she was walking away, she turned around, marched up t me and said her friend was in town with her kids and she told her about my house and to "NOT DARE TAKE DOWN THE DECORATIONS OR TURN OFF THE LIGHT." I ignored her and continued to disassemble my cute pumpkome town. Almost thirty minutes later, a Lincoln Navigator with Williamson County tags pulled up and an argument ensued between two very tired children and their mother. She had driven them all this way to have the BEST HALLOWEEN EVER and she was not allowed to Trick or Treat and they were giving away GOOD STUFF AND THEY HAD DARNED WELL BETTER GET OUT AND GET THEIR TREATS!!!

This was a grown wman throwing a tantrum over what probab ly cost less than a dollar from Oriental Trading,

Two very tired children reluctantly dragged out of the vehicle and muttered a a half-hearted "Trick or treat." As they got back in, she gave me a cheery wave and I threw a clod of dirt and mulch from one of my flower beds at her back window Pro-tip from anthropology school: Don't piss off the natives.

I hope she wasn't planning on making an additional run through East Nashville.*

See also: The Mommy who cornered me on Nov. 2nd, '95 bto see if I would decorate my proch because she's always taken her kids' Halloween pictures on my porch and I didn't participate that year, so I owed her or something. ** ****

*Hey Pretty Boy from East Nashville Bulldog 2007 Music Publisher: Nobody's Collecting On These Songs by Snider, Todd

** My father died earlier that year. Halloween was his thing and I wasn't in the mood.

***"Gee, Oscar! You're so good with kids! Why don't you teach?" THE MOMMIES!

 

No trick or treaters here last night. Not unexpected. Not many if any children on my street when summer's over (they're all over the place then of course). Also, the town has a tradition where the Friday afternoon before Halloween or it falls on Halloween, elementary school lets out early and the kids in costume parade down Main St. There are stands put up along the street by merchants where they can collect candy. It's corny but adorable.

 

Our pastor had us try something new for Halloween this year (and yes, we call it by that name). The church purchased 1000 cups with our name and logo emblazoned on one side. Congregants were encouraged to take as many cups as needed to match anticipated trick or treat volume, and to fill each one up with candy.

I’m not in a kids neighborhood and I had to do deliveries last night anyway. So five fast food workers and two liquor store clerks got surprised with cups full of candy courtesy of First UMC Podunk.

 

We've had about 100 or so the past couple of years. Vans packed with Hispanic kids coming from Santa Ana usually descend on our neighborhood. Also, lots of high schoolers, which my wife hates. But not last night. Only 50-60. Junior high kids were the oldest. From about 8:15 to 8:30, only one small group. And then a pair at 8:45. At 9, I shut it down and there were no stragglers.

One next door neighbor (they are new and we barely know them) just left candy on the porch. I overheard this:
Wow, it's help-yourself time.
Hey, save some for me.
No, don't take them all.
Yeah, save some for others.

I dropped a bag of peanut M&Ms into one kid's bag. He said, "May I have the plain ones ... no peanuts."
Another kid very politely said, "Could I please have something without peanuts?"
That was refreshing as I've never had any kid say that to me before on Halloween.

 

Is 'femanding' a cromulent word? I kind of like it