Trick-or-Treating: Is It Safe for Kids in Your Neighborhood?

image credit: myremoteradio.com

Continuing Post-Halloween observations, there are a few people who admitted that no one came to trick-or-treat to their house, even though they had lots of candy prepared for the occasion. It turns out that nowadays children prefer to go to local businesses in their area rather than to private houses or apartment buildings. And if you think about it, you can't blame them for such a change of habits.

First of all, when you live in a big city like New York, you realize that you don't really know who your neighbors are. You might see them and recognize their faces, but that's probably about it. There might even be a few to whom you say hello occasionally, and even fewer with whom you are actually acquainted. Therefore, if you don't know who lives next door, you are unlikely to send your child there to get a treat on Halloween.

Secondly, let us suppose that you do know your neighbors. Still, there are some neighborhoods in New York that are not as safe as others. There are lots of people wandering in the streets of even the safest areas. There have been recent stories about a Jewish child who was abducted and murdered just a few blocks from his house, and sexual assaults on women in Park Slope, so even when an adult enters his or her own apartment building, it is helpful to watch your back all the times, as you never know who is watching or following you.

Of course, it is different in every area, but you would never want to take chances when it comes to your child, and you can never be too careful.

And it is sad that due to the fact that with the development of the Internet people socialize face-to-face less and less frequently. We order food online, we watch movies at home through Netflix and we hardly ever notice what's going on outside of our window. Now you can't even let your children to get candy from people who live right next to you. Is it mostly because you're concerned with their safety or maybe because the Internet teaches us to trust businesses more than our unknown neighbors because you have read about a supermarket next block and you have never spoken to Mrs. What's-Her-Name upstairs?

It might be a little bit of both, even if you don't realize it. The times are changing, and who knows if, as time goes by, in a few years someone will knock at your door on Halloween evening dressed up as a cute little bee or a superman and say cheerfully, "Trick or treat?"

How Was Your Halloween?

image credited to: en.wikipedia.org

You have probably heard people saying something like, "Halloween is the best holiday in the year because you don't have to buy gifts and everyone is just dressing up and having the time of their lives," or "The point of Halloween is to look your best like someone else." Everyone discovers his or her own meaning of Halloween sooner or later.

For some, it is truly the best holiday in the year with a necessary colorful parade in Manhattan. For others, it is nothing more than a holiday for children, who hope for a few candies and a lot of fun dressing up like characters from fairy-tales. Whatever it is for you, won't you agree that it is one of the most colorful and the most celebrated holidays in New York? Probably, only Christmas and Easter are bigger than Halloween.

Indeed, preparation for the holiday starts early in October. You can see houses in black and orange, with their Halloween decorations, with traditional pumpkins, ghosts and other scary elements. Local business put out Halloween decorations as well, usually no earlier than ten days before the holiday. About this time, people start asking each other, "What are you going to be for Halloween?" There is a lot of excitement about the holiday way before it comes.

As for the costumes, all large stores are busy, and by the last week, there are few costumes left available, so you're better off shopping as early as possible. Don't forget that face paint is a big part of your costume as well. When you choose your costume, you might want to be unrecognized and look unlike yourself, or simply add a lot of details to it and make it unusual and special. Some people even prefer to make their costume themselves, being creative and saving money at the same time. Others spend neither time nor a lot of money on costumes. You can always get a scary mask and decorate your clothes with Halloween symbols, and that will do as well.

The good thing is, you can be as creative as you wish and feel like.

As the day comes closer, you can see more people in costumes in the streets, and holiday mood takes over you, whether or not you're dressing up. Houses in your neighborhood start making parties, and local bars and restaurants do, too.

And finally, on October, 31, when you see children trick-or-treating from one door to another, when you see broken eggs under your feet and crowds of people going to the city parade or small neighborhood haunted walks, you realize that there is something magical in dressing up like someone else, not necessarily beautiful and perfect, that there is a lot of kindness in the way people give away candies to the kids who are at first shy to ask for them, especially if they are doing this for their first Halloween. You might think that Halloween is a dark holiday and all that, but if you look closer, you can find out that there is a lot of good energy flowing from one person to another, and that it is actually a good thing to be in the middle of it.

It definitely is.

And even though you see preparations and celebrations every year, still, if you think about it, every time Halloween has a different meaning for you. It all depends on what you are going to do, who you are going to celebrate the holiday with and even how many eggs people will throw at you in the street. And of course, how long you will laugh at the pictures afterwards.

So now it is only logical to ask: how was your Halloween and what did you carry away with you from it this year?

Check out this Post-Halloween Walk of Shame Video of people coming back from Halloween parties next morning.