Rant #3,004: Sad But True

Today is Halloween.
 
Boo!
 
And don’t make me laugh.
 
The Halloween of today is a far cry from what Halloween was when I was a kid.
 
I think it is quite obvious that the Halloweens that Baby Boomers like me experienced were really the “classic” Halloweens, a real kids’ holiday, never ever to be experienced again.
 
And that is sad, but what we have today is really Halloween-lite.
 
It is not a day that kids can be kids, but a day that adults can be kids, and kids are just along for the ride.
 
Things really changed in the 1980s and 1990s, and quite honestly, Halloween has never been the same.
 
Adults took over the holiday for a variety of reasons—including safety—and what was once a true kids’ holiday is really nothing but a shell of itself.
 
Here is what I wrote about Halloween in Rant #606, way back on October 28, 2011, and unfortunately, it still holds true these 11 years later:
 
“Halloween just isn't what it used to be.
 
I remember Halloween as a kids' day, but the holiday has been co-opted by what we used to call "The Establishment." It is now a holiday for adults, and not really for kids anymore.
 
Adults dress up, have Halloween parties, and act like the kids they were decades before.
 
Children dress up, have parties, and barely go trick or treating anymore.
 
What a shame.
 
My childhood, as I have said many times, was spent in a wonderful--and equally frustrating--place called Rochdale Village, in South Jamaica, Queens, New York.
 
The place had five sections, a total of 20 buildings, each building with three sections (A, B, C), 13 stories apiece, and about seven apartments on every floor.
 
Thousands of families lived there, so Halloween was simply the greatest holiday that there was.
 
We would go from building to building, section to section, apartment to apartment, and get our candy, money, and whatever else people threw in our bags.
 
We used to get bags and bags and bags of stuff.
 
It was simply incredible how those bags filled up like they did.
 
The bags had to be checked, of course, and my mother used to sit down with my sister and myself to go through the contents.
 
I remember one year, my sister got an apple with pins in it. We knew exactly where the apple came from--an elderly woman in our building--but in those days, you really didn't do much about it. You just knew not to visit that apartment again the next year.
 
And since I have never really been a candy eater, I gave all my candy to my sister. My sister has a sweet tooth, and believe me, between the Halloween candy I gave her, and the baseball card gum I gave her, is it any wonder that she has had problems with her teeth as an adult?
 
But Halloween was simply heaven to kids living in my development.
 
Heck, with all the pennies I got, if I could have kept them all, I could probably buy a slice of pizza today.
 
But all kidding aside, how can a Halloween like this compare with Halloween today?
 
It can't. It simply can't.
 
And that is why Halloween today is a far cry from what I--and probably many of you--celebrated way back when.
 
I wish it could be the same way today, but it can't.
 
Today, I basically look at Halloween as a nuisance.
 
We decorate our home, and put out candy for the kids, but hardly anybody visits.
 
And since Halloween is on a school night this year, I expect even fewer kids to be out.
 
So happy Halloween, but don't tell me that the holiday today is the same as it was in 1967.
 
It isn't the same thing, no matter where you grew up.
 
It just isn't.”
 
And this year, we will again put out candy, but we will get no trick or theaters coming to our door.
 
We used to dress up the house for the holiday, but quite frankly, why bother?
 
It is just another day on the calendar for our family, nothing more.
 
And I say “BOO!” to that, but that is simply the way it is.