Halloween on Fuddy Duddy Lane

Just got back from Trick-or-treating with the Clone Trooper that calls me Mommy. In the past few years that we have hit the neighbors up for sugary sustenance, we have had a good time. I know the houses that give out full-sized bars, those whose residents dress up and play scary music, the house that gives out religious tracts along with the Hershey bars. It is the one time of year that there is guaranteed fun with the neighbors.

Perhaps it is because the economy is so terrible. Perhaps it is because this year trick-or-treating is on a Saturday. But this year it seemed most people around our neighborhood were content to sit in their living room with the lights out and the TV on. We had trick-or-treating participation in maybe one out of every five houses. Pathetic.

The point is not that the wee one's load is lighter. Indeed, candy s the one thing our Clone Trooper does NOT need. The point is, that with all the repossessed houses around and the people out of work, the Halloween spirit has been seriously squelched. It is sad.

I remember my days of trick-or-treating and feeling momentarily disappointed in the dark houses. I wonder if my son will think back to tonight, when he stood looking in at a lit kitchen door knocking and how the residents just ignored him. But I will remember how others peeked out their dark windows as we passed by.

My street was the worst. Two blocks of NOTHING. If the porch lights were lit in the accepted sign of welcome, then the house was dark and unwelcoming. My annoyance came when we schlepped through puddles in the cold, holding hopes of friendly houses, only to be met with darkness and apathy too great to lead one to pick up a bag of tootsie rolls at the dollar store. Some houses had not even removed the two feet of leaves which covered their dangerously uneven sidewalks.

I hope trick-or-treating is not something my grandchildren will not ever do. I hope that the walls we build around ourselves will not go higher and stronger until we do not even know our next door neighbors.

On the plus side, we got plenty of Reese Cups right now so it's not all bad.