Anyhow, because I’m now in my 50s, I get to use such phrases as “when I was younger” and “kids these days” suggesting my superior, more difficult or just better upbringing. And so, “when I was younger” my brothers and I never went trick or treating. Well, we did. We just never went trick or treating for ourselves, for candy. We went trick or treating for UNICEF. (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund).
Every Halloween we would go house to house with our little orange boxes shouting “trick or treat for UNICEF.” People would put some change, or the occasional dollar, in our orange boxes. At nearly every house the homeowner would want to also give us some candy, but my dad would wave his hand from side to side, giving a clear “no” sign, much to my disappointment.
My parents were trying to instill a sense of doing something for someone else. Of giving without receiving anything in return. Lots of references of that in the Bible and my parents were/are pretty conservative Catholics. As a young kid I always wanted the candy more than I got any sense of helping out poor and hungry children by collecting change every Halloween. Besides, my parents called Halloween “Beggars’ Night.” I never asked why they had such a disparaging view of kids collecting candy every October 31st. Or, maybe they only didn’t want us to do so, to use that time more wisely, for someone else.
Part of that stuck because my six-year-old gets the orange UNICEF box from church every year and fills it with change (mainly donations from his parents but recently from his own savings). And, he goes trick or treating, for candy. This year he is going as Darth Vader.
Happy Halloween!
