(no subject)
With the annual Halloween fiesta that we share with my brother and various Crossville people having been put off a week do to our host needing jaw surgery and a biopsy (he found out he's ok!), last night I prepared to receive a horde of trick-or-treaters. I very much live in "the hood" of Knoxville, but not the bad hood, the good one. The bad one is down on Magnolia, were the hookers and the shootings are. My hood instead is just where the black people live in Knoxville, so people assume it must be dangerous.
There are a lot of kids around here, as well. A school bus stop across the street both confirms their existence and the abundance of them, and the elementary school just 3 or 4 blocks away signifies that there are some of trick-or-treating age. As such, I prepared for an assault. Candy was attained in three times the quantity that I would normally purchase for myself, and in popular flavors and known name brands rather than the esoteric delicacies that I prefer. Kate even purchased a pumpkin, accessorized by a pair of teenie colorful gourds, which she artfully arranged on our porch. I was ready.
Imagine my disappointment then, when not a single damn kid showed up. Not a one. Not even a teenager asking for a handout. My other place across town didn't get any either, but back then I suspected that it was because it was an apartment complex filled with younger age people, and there weren't any kids around. It does make me wonder what these poor "city kids" do for Halloween. Kate suggested they go to Halloween events at their various churches, but I am sure that there are a lot of children with irreligious parents. Plus, I have been to a few of those events, and they typically have a lot less booty-to-time ratio than traditional trick-or-treating. Having to say a bible verse or mini-putt a ball into a hole in order to get chocolate is definitely not the same as running screaming through the night from porchlight to porchlight, shoving your fellow goblins and ghouls down into the begonias, and praying that the scarecrow that's been sitting on Old Mr. Crazy's porch for the last couple of weeks hasn't been secretly replaced by Old Mr. Crazy dressed up as a scarecrow, remaining very still and waiting for you...
I suppose I will have to find something to do with all this extra candy I have now. Hmm.
There are a lot of kids around here, as well. A school bus stop across the street both confirms their existence and the abundance of them, and the elementary school just 3 or 4 blocks away signifies that there are some of trick-or-treating age. As such, I prepared for an assault. Candy was attained in three times the quantity that I would normally purchase for myself, and in popular flavors and known name brands rather than the esoteric delicacies that I prefer. Kate even purchased a pumpkin, accessorized by a pair of teenie colorful gourds, which she artfully arranged on our porch. I was ready.
Imagine my disappointment then, when not a single damn kid showed up. Not a one. Not even a teenager asking for a handout. My other place across town didn't get any either, but back then I suspected that it was because it was an apartment complex filled with younger age people, and there weren't any kids around. It does make me wonder what these poor "city kids" do for Halloween. Kate suggested they go to Halloween events at their various churches, but I am sure that there are a lot of children with irreligious parents. Plus, I have been to a few of those events, and they typically have a lot less booty-to-time ratio than traditional trick-or-treating. Having to say a bible verse or mini-putt a ball into a hole in order to get chocolate is definitely not the same as running screaming through the night from porchlight to porchlight, shoving your fellow goblins and ghouls down into the begonias, and praying that the scarecrow that's been sitting on Old Mr. Crazy's porch for the last couple of weeks hasn't been secretly replaced by Old Mr. Crazy dressed up as a scarecrow, remaining very still and waiting for you...
I suppose I will have to find something to do with all this extra candy I have now. Hmm.