Trick-or-Treating in Alto: A Meditation

Trick-or-treating for my generation often meant homemade treats – caramel apples, cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies. One neighbor gave lollipops. Another handed out raisins. We traveled around the block, visiting people we knew (or knew of) before returning home, laden with one-of-a-kind sweets.

Our neighborhood, Alto, a flat one with no hills, is a magnet for families who live in vertical spaces. Hordes of kids, parent cliques in tow, storm our house in waves. Out with my 2-year-old son yesterday, we stayed close to home, but the treats handed out by neighbors were products of multi-national corporations like Hershey and M&M/Mars. We knew a handful of the people we passed. 

It took only a few rings of the doorbell to notice Alto's 2010 candy trends. Anything that looked unique did not last in the candy bowl. Sour balls wrapped in bat-flecked cellophane and tied with orange string? Gone in a blink. Ditto summer's leftover saltwater taffy. Dots, a candy my generation knows, did not have a chance. The little monsters at your door loved the colorfully wrapped tropical flavor Tootsies but left  plain brown Tootsies on the bottom of the bowl. The wrapping made the sale.

Some known "nuts" were dismissed - sorry Butterfinger and Snickers - you won't be shared in the classroom tomorrow. But Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are still the Nut Champion. A few kids in bulky costumes could not reach into the bowl – a space-age vacuum cleaner and glowing disco ball come to mind. They too asked for the colorful over the well-known.

We dished out five jumbo bags of candy this year. By 7:30 p.m., the candy bowl was totally empty, none held in reserve for the office. A memorable moment for the evening was a trick-or-treat in reverse. A young lady dressed as a cookie jar took a pack of Dots but gave me a Chips Ahoy.

Thank you for bringing the treat to my door!