The Smoke Signal, MSJ's Official Newspaper

Feature

Too Old for Tricks or Treats?

By Leland Bernstein

There’s nothing else quite like Halloween. You get free candy for dressing up weirdly and practical jokes are the norm. But are teenagers too old to dress up and ask for free food? Last Halloween a group of masked marauders knocked on my door and when I opened it, threw monster snaps at my feet and made me jump five feet into the air. And they still asked for candy. They got a face-full of door instead. It’s not a crime to ask for free food, it’s just annoying when people use Halloween as an excuse instead of embracing the holiday. Dressing up as a character from Jersey Shore won’t get you candy, it will get you closed doors and possibly calls from the police depending on how well you made your costume.

Some people see Halloween as a little kid thing, and teenagers should be somewhere else so there is more candy for the little ones. So let’s follow the adult train of thought. First, if they give teenagers candy, there’s less for the kindergarteners that give very sad faces if they get no candy. Second, if they encourage teenagers, there will be more teenagers next year. Third, more teenagers mean less adorable children and more annoying pranks. So there’s a slightly understandable reason why people want us doing crazy things somewhere else.

People tolerate teenagers trick-or-treating because some are sincerely out to have fun and get candy along the way. But if you’re out of high school and walking around on Halloween, homeowners turn off their outside lights and stash away the candy. And when you were ten, what did it feel like seeing an entire dark neighborhood? If you never had an experience like that, it’s like the kryptonite to your Halloween superman spirit.

In our minds, teenagers are perfectly fine to go trick-or-treating, but we frighten homeowners and little ones away with our teenage natures. We should be more considerate to how terrifying we appear and do more “age-appropriate” activities, such as parties or visiting the haunted corn mazes (which are frighteningly good). If you do go trick-or-treating, make a real effort to go with the holiday instead of wearing old clothes and saying you’re a hobo.

Image from http://www.bbc.co.uk

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