Field of Science

Halloween, yawn.


TPP just doesn't get all the excitement about Halloween. OK, as a kid it's understandable. You get to dress up in costumes, run around the neighborhood, and score some epic amounts of candy. Yes, that gets kids excited, and will keep them that way for awhile. But TPP grew up. Lot's of adult people seem excited about Halloween and it just makes no sense. The best adult thing to get excited about is the Rocky Horror Show being performed at the local theater. That's fun. Maybe they just want an excuse to have a fall party with costumes thrown in for giggles. While walking to the coffee shoppe, this decorated yard caught TPP's eye, and really folks? All this for Halloween? This isn't actually scary, just tacky. Former neighbors used to have a minimalist Halloween display that scared the crap out of kids, especially the spooky music and lighting and a witch at a spinning wheel who turned out to be alive once you got close, along with a couple of other surprises. Kids would cross the street rather than take the risk for a little chunk of candy. Wonder if the tacky house gives away something really good, or maybe they blew their budget on decor and give away pieces of laughee taffee, which is as awful tasting and as good at pulling fillings as you may imagine. The big prize when TPP was a kid was a house high on a hill with about a thousand step sidewalk, but they gave out full-sized candy bars to reward the intrepid climbers. Presently, our neighborhood with its large yards has a low house to distance ratio so trick-or-treaters seek denser neighborhoods to maximize their return on investment. Some optimal foraging there folks. 

3 comments:

One said...

As a person living in a country that doesn't celebrate Halloween nationwide, I would like a widely celebrated holiday whose theme leans towards death and decay. Easter is doing absolutely nothing for me and it's annoying that all the stores are closed and nothing interesting is happening so I'd be totally on board with celebrating it as a zombie holiday when you go out on a Zombie Walk or something.

Anonymous said...

I recently read that Halloween has now surpassed all other holidays in money spent - largely because of this "decor" trash. Because believe me, this example you post is tacky - but obviously inexpensive. On the other hand a few of the catalogs that make their quick trip from my mailbox to the recycling bin have pages and pages of NOT cheap, emphasize NOT, junk. Tacky spelled T$$$$.

Whatever happened to hay rides, asks the old woman whose "decor" is limited to her old cornstalks, some punkins and the gems of the garden, cobs of Indian corn. Ah, cider. Ah homemade (fried, dammit) donuts.

The Phytophactor said...

Fried APPLE donuts!