Happy Halloween! It's 4:08 pm, the time when most kids are going out of their gourds back home. The excitement is palpable. Is it time to get our costumes on? No, Mom, help me with my costume first. Don't I look gross? Bwa ha ha haaaaaa. What, eat something nutritious first before Trick or Treating? I wonder if anyone is giving away full size candy bars. The neighbors really fix up their house to look scary.
Halloween is a bit of a nonstarter here in Australia. "It's an American thing..." grumble parents . They feel it has been foisted on them by their kids who have watched every TV show and movie out of the U.S. featuring kids trick or treating and want to do the same. Halloween parties are more common but some of my colleagues say that a few kids knock on their door (and are ignored.)
Commercial entities don't miss a trick, however. The cheapie discount stores have their disposable costume pieces and hanging cardboard skeletons out right next to their grand Christmas displays. The two major grocery store chains make an effort, but it is alternately painful and humorous to watch them miss the mark. The classic orange pumpkin used for carving into jack o' lanterns in North America is an exotic species here with a price to match: $26 for a pumpkin size of your head. Little cardboard placards reminding us to "Don't forget Halloween" hang by the eggs , Brie cheese and Lindt chocolates. Who's giving away full size Lindt chocolate bars, I ask? I'll start knocking on doors.
So what will I be doing this evening? Entertaining my brother and sister-in-law with a corned beef and cabbage supper. It ends an exciting day of making jam, going to church, canning tomatoes, stirring up some gingerbread cookie dough and cleaning the house. Trick or Treat!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment