AN OPPORTUNITY MISSED
Well. Last night's haunted tally:
Pumpkin: intact
House: un-egged
Trick-or-Treaters: nary a knock at the door
While I appreciated the lack of traditional Halloween pranks, I really missed having adorably-costumed children come to my door demanding candy. Maybe no children live on our street? Maybe our street is known for being stingy with candy? Who knows. But by the end of the night I was glancing hopefully out the window to see if any children - costumed or otherwise - were walking past; if I'd found any I would have gleefully tossed handfulls of candy at them. (I can see the headlines: "Terrified Cambridge Youth Pelted with KitKats in Unprovoked Attack!") As it stands, Ray and I have a house full of mini chocolate bars (we had no idea how many kids to expect, so we stocked up) and little or no restraint when it comes to the sweet stuff. Dangerous place to be nearly two full months out from Christmas...I don't think one can truthfully count this feast as part of sanctioned holiday gluttony.
It's not just the fun - and candy - the Brits are missing out on, it's the opportunity to stimulate the economy. I read a report on the CBC website last night that said Canadians have spent one billion dollars on Halloween costumes, candy and related paraphernalia this year. ONE BILLION DOLLARS. That's, like, two hundred British pounds. Apparently in Canada, Halloween is a strong runner-up to Christmas as the second biggest retail event of the year. Scary thought, and one that surely sends shivers down the spine of the nation's dentists.
Yum yum, these chocolate bars are TASTY...
(And one more random rant: I still haven't managed to shake my cold!)
posted by Amanda Grout @ 10:11 pm
3 comments
3 Comments:
They really are quite good - just about to munch on a brown kit-kat myself, and am thinking that we should break into the white ones tonight :-)
The sad fact of the matter is that British children just don't "do" Haloween. It's a shame in some respects, but then we do have Guy Fawkes night to look forward to on Saturday.
It's Warren:
I had four kids. They were "guysing", as is the Scottish tradition, where they have to perform a poem, skit, or song before they can get any candy. People turn kids away without anything even if they're little ones, if they don't perform for them! So, I had four younger pupils of mine, in black clothes and masks, pretend to beat the tar out of each other. It seemed true to life, so of course I forked over the candy. I had my pumpkin lit and out and everything, and I never got any more kids. The pumpkin looked really nice, too, I even snapped some photos. Luckily, the pumpkin was unharmed.
I wish kids did more Hallowe'en over here, since I miss it very much from back home.
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