Scary Baby

I was born on October 30th, the day before Halloween. It has therefore always been one of my favorite holidays, a few of the reasons for which I've listed below.

1. I love getting presents, and the resultant high almost always carries over at least a day (often several).

2. In elementary school, I had a series of birthday party sleepovers on Halloween that always played out in the same spectacular way. A bunch of girls would come over around 5:00 or 6:00. Everyone would get into costume. It being the 80's, there was always the obligatory "punk" costume, which consisted of some skirt/shirt combo, lots of bracelets, rings, etc., and an old pair of stilettos four sizes too big with a wobbly heel. Oh, and lace gloves with the fingertips cut off. Hey, we were 10 -- Madonna, Dead Kennedys, what's the difference? We'd trick or treat for as long as miss punk's feet would allow, then drag her the 1/2 mile back to the house (this was always the low point of the evening). Once home, we'd spread out our hauls and have a giant candy exchange, where I could unload all my Butterfingers and Baby Ruths in exchange for Tootsie Rolls and Snicker bars. Add to this the customary birthday cake and ice cream, and these parties were kick ass.

3. I have a younger brother, born 5 and 1/2 years after me. That means that when I was, say, turning 12, Bryan was still several months away from 7. Younger siblings are notoriously easy to fool and almost eager to be taken advantage of. I fully admit to preying upon these tendencies to further increase my candy load. Thus, every November 1st, I would drag my bag of loot into Bryan's room and commence "negotiations." A grape Dum Dum for that Hershey bar? A fine trade indeed! Three peanut candy thingies (you know, wrapped in orange or black waxed paper) for a Nestle Crunch? A steal! A set of waxed lips for every piece of bubble gum in your bag? Highway robbery my friend! At the end of our "trading session," my brother would be left with a sad little pile of Jolly Ranchers, Sweet Tarts, and Sugar Mamas. Sometimes I'd feel magnanimous and dump a couple rolls of Smarties on top.

So, basically, I guess I love Halloween because it has historically allowed me to get things for free or much less than face value. Maybe I should have chosen a different topic for my inaugural blog.