You might not think it, but the older you get the harder Halloween is.
It’s not that you are overcome with the urge to stand and scream “Get off my lawn”, although that may happen to some. It’s trying to figure out the costumes. They seem to get more and more complicated and tend to involve things that, well, to be honest, I really don’t care about.
I’ve tried to keep up with most of the superheros. It’s not easy with like ten different Batmans (Batmen?) and forty-two different Spidermans, but that’s not really too bad. The slight variations in costume and the different colours really don’t matter that much. Basically, you see one Batman you’ve seen ’em all. But then you get the video game characters.
In a way, I feel sorry for kids these days. Planning a costume takes time, effort, and probably a few changes as to what they really want to be. When I was of trick or treating age, you know, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, Halloween costumes were pretty easy. Sure, you had to be careful not to get stepped on by a dinosaurs as you wandered the neighbourhood, but you could usually hear them coming.
As for the costume, an old sheet and a pair of scissors and boom… you’re a ghost. Or grab a piece of charcoal from the fireplace and use it to draw a few bruises and scars, add in a bandanna around the head and a stick that sort of looked like a sword and viola… instant pirate. (Caution! Make sure the fire is well out before grabbing the piece of charcoal. You have to tell people that these days, which may be way the practice has died out.)
But last night, I was actually kind of proud of myself. Some young person came to the door dressed as some weird character and I greeted him with, “Hi Foxy, how’s it going?” He was a bit taken aback that I actually knew he was one of the characters from Five Nights At Freddy’s, but I had an inside source on this one. My grandson was out there somewhere in the same costume. In any case, it impressed this young person that some old guy knew anything about Foxy.
But it made me feel good. I recognized who he was supposed to be. Actually, I recognized most of them. I managed to get through another Halloween without looking too out of date. I still got it! Well… some of it.
Now… if I can just figure out what that marshmallow headed thing carrying the giant cotton swab was… I think it was something from Fortnight, whatever that is.
