Thread Drift

[Pax]

Nice. Now that is the first I read about dressing as "tourists". Pardon my French hihi ...but how do you look to dress as a tourist in Florida?

You just choose a combination of all the awful dorky things they wear and put it on. Older guy tourists are known for wearing black socks and sandals or leather shoes at the beach, they wear a LOT of hawaiian print shirts, they usually have a map in hand and have binoculars and cameras dangling off. Our costumes were just wearing everything at once, it was a hoot!

[Crankin]

I don't like Halloween.
There, I said it.
Just venting here, because I know I won't be judged.
I guess my real question is when did this turn into a national holiday, one that adults celebrate in the same way as Thanksgiving? Sure, I enjoyed dressing up as a kid and getting candy. That ended in 6th grade. My DH has accused me of being a fun hater in the past, but he agrees with me on this.
Anyone else (or do you know anyone else?) that feels like this? This is not a case of me turning into a cranky old lady, because I've felt like this since I was in my 20s.

[Helene2013]

Thanks Pax. Glad I'm never dressed as a tourist...but for the cam sometimes. hihi

Don't worry Crankin...I don't celebrate Halloween either. Used to as a kid as we were very poor and had no money to "waste" on candies. But as soon as I had my own money to get me stuff, I stopped all together. I can understand for some, anything and everything is a reason to celebrate. Not me.

I used to open my door for little kids that came into my 1st house. But stopped when most were getting way too old to do that. I live in an area where kids are not "missing" on anything in life, even less candies. So I prefer to keep my hard earned money to give to a cause that will be more useful than kids eating tons of candies, which they can eat all year long here! So I hear you on this.

I even refused to participate in the employee's xmas video they taped this past week for our December xmas party. It was a parody of something and I totally refused to wear a costume and making a fool out of me, even if it is going to be hilarious. I don't even attend this mega party that costs a fortune to the firm. Not my type. Not going to buy a fancy dress yearly for a party I have no wish to attend. Not going to do it because it is "politically" correct. My team don't even ask me any more if I'll be there as they know the answer will be no. hihi

[Pax]

Halloween is xmas for gays, we love it. BIG parties, amazing costumes, no dealing with our non-existent families, just fun.

[Crankin]

I knew that, Pax.
Hoping my brother doesn't think he has a "non-existent" family. On second thought, since I am his only family left, he better not!

[rebeccaC]

Halloween is xmas for gays, we love it. BIG parties, amazing costumes, no dealing with our non-existent families, just fun.

Truth

A HUGE fun time here last night. Some incredibly creative costumes….some amusing, some amazing and some both. I love Halloween because it’s just fun with all the glitz, glam, horror and humor, it allows me to stretch my creativity and to just be in the moment of believing the unbelievable…where else can I kiss a woman gladiator ….and I can do/share all that with some meaningful people in my life. Besides it’s the reason pumpkins don’t start to ripen until early october.

[emily_in_nc]

Not a big fan of Halloween either, Crankin. I get why many people love it, and I'm fine with that, but I just don't enjoy dressing up. And when we've lived in an area with trick-or-treaters, I didn't like that either, as the doorbell ringing always made our dog bark and go crazy. Just not my thing. We've been successfully avoiding it for years by not living in areas with trick-or-treaters or conveniently going out that night. Our apartment building here has a locked security gate, so we certainly didn't have to worry about giving out candy. It looked like some little kids were trick-or-treating at businesses, and I enjoyed seeing their cute costumes while walking Paisley last night, but that was enough Halloween for me. And no candy to tempt me during or afterwards!

[emily_in_nc]

You just choose a combination of all the awful dorky things they wear and put it on. Older guy tourists are known for wearing black socks and sandals or leather shoes at the beach, they wear a LOT of hawaiian print shirts, they usually have a map in hand and have binoculars and cameras dangling off. Our costumes were just wearing everything at once, it was a hoot!

I like that visual! Cute idea for a costume. :-)

[Blueberry]

I'm back to being a Halloween grouch too. I like walking around and seeing the festivities - but we usually go out. I wanted to get some work done last night (still have those 2 exams - and I'm sure my standardized patient would appreciate my being prepared for my tested exam of him or her tomorrow), so we stayed in. We figured since we were in a new neighborhood (and not the one where there are 2,000 trick-or-treaters per house) we would try giving out candy. My very generous DH let kids grab their own candy. Just a few kids cleaned out most of the 1.5 large bags I put in the bowl with most of the rest taking a solid couple of handfuls. We closed up shop when the rest went. Not quite sure when kids (or their parents) became so ill-mannered - but this pretty much sums up my view. There was a line of cars on our street with the little darlings going to each door and then getting driven the 0.05 miles to the next house. We live in a *very* walkable neighborhood.

We won't be doing it again. Bah Humbug.

[Crankin]

Emily, I never minded giving out candy. Although, we have not had one trick or treater since moving to Concord. Combination of the hill and a driveway that is an even steeper hill. The houses are not directly on the street, so not ideal for trick or treaters. There are trick or treaters on the flat part of my street. At my last house, an ideal place for trick or treaters, we had parents dropping off their kids, because it was a safe neighborhood, with 25 houses, on 2 cul de sacs. I ran out of candy, the last 2 years. Actually, the last year, we were getting ready to move here, on 11/1. We left out a bowl of candy (a huge one) and went out to dinner. It was gone when we got home. I imagine at the condo, we won't have any, either, as it's a small street of 15 condos, off of a main street (actually called Main St!). There is a sidewalk, though on Main St., and houses, so kids from there might venture onto our new street. We'll see next year.
What I don't like, is similar to you; I hate getting in costume, it feels silly to me. I don't like going to places of business and seeing adults in costumes, when they should be paying attention to work. At least it's not an issue working in a mental health clinic. When I was teaching, I dreaded Halloween, as the kids got really over stimulated, at an age when I thought they should be over it!
The last time I dressed up, was in 1984, where I went as a pregnant baby . I was about 3.5 months pregnant, just starting to pooch out, so I bought a pair of granny panties and put them on over a pair of white tights, and wore a white t shirt, emblazoned with the words "Somebody in California loves me." I put my hair up in a ponytail and put a pacifier around my neck. Oy. I have a picture.

[salsabike]

Halloween is xmas for gays, we love it. BIG parties, amazing costumes, no dealing with our non-existent families, just fun.

Truth

A HUGE fun time here last night. Some incredibly creative costumes….some amusing, some amazing and some both. I love Halloween because it’s just fun with all the glitz, glam, horror and humor, it allows me to stretch my creativity and to just be in the moment of believing the unbelievable…where else can I kiss a woman gladiator ….and I can do/share all that with some meaningful people in my life. Besides it’s the reason pumpkins don’t start to ripen until early october.

[Helene2013]

Wow. Just watched the video and I cannot believe this. A grown up woman and mother! emptied the whole boxes!!! I wished that she'd see her face plastered in her town. Will serve her good.

[Pax]

Truth

A HUGE fun time here last night. Some incredibly creative costumes….some amusing, some amazing and some both. I love Halloween because it’s just fun with all the glitz, glam, horror and humor, it allows me to stretch my creativity and to just be in the moment of believing the unbelievable…where else can I kiss a woman gladiator ….and I can do/share all that with some meaningful people in my life. Besides it’s the reason pumpkins don’t start to ripen until early october.

Sweet!!!

[ny biker]

I have never liked halloween, except when I was very young. Once I was old enough to have to worry about having a "cool" costume and end up being chased by older kids throwing eggs, I would have been happy to skip the whole thing. And I totally lack creativity for coming up with costumes, so going to costume parties as an adult requires too much effort.

I don't think I've ever had trick or treaters come to any place I've lived as an adult, because I've only lived in apartments. One kid came to a house that I rented with friends during our senior year of college, and we had no candy so we gave the kid money (loose change). For years after that I bought a bag of candy just in case but never needed it. Last night I could hear people outside but as usual they only went to the townhouses, not the apartments.

I do have a friend who is really good at coming up with costume ideas and then executes them really well. I'm always impressed to see the photos of his creations.

[emily_in_nc]

When we lived in Prairie Village, Kansas two years ago, we lived on a very small horseshoe-shaped street right off a major road with lots of traffic, so I knew we'd only get kids who lived on our street, if any. And there was only one child out of the 12 or so houses on the street, as far as I knew. She was maybe three years old, and I hoped her parents would bring her by. I left the porch light on, but perhaps because we did not do a jack-o-lantern, they did not come to trick-or-treat at the house we were renting from friends. We saw them walk by on the street and go to other houses, so we were kind of surprised, but we really didn't know them, so they were probably only going to houses of neighbors they knew. Needless to say, the candy I'd bought went into the freezer and we had to eat it!