My doorbell doesn't ring...

...on Halloween so I am working all weekend instead. In all the years that
I've lived here, I have yet to get any ghouls or goblins begging for sweets
at my door. It's a shame actually. Some of the best memories of my youth
are of selecting a scarey costume, finding an old pillowcase, going
door-to-door with my cohorts, and coming home with enough candy to
last until December.
There are plenty of kids in the neighborhood. The first year that I lived
here, I bought a couple of bags of the good miniature candybars . It
was the "real stuff" too, not the Dollar Store knock-offs that are "2 for $1.00".
I was ready, but, by the time the 11 o'clock news came on, there
was only half a bag left and a small mountain of crumpled wrappers on the
coffee table. I tried making sense of this "Mystery of the Missing Trick or
Treaters" and was about to write it off as a "cultural thing" but the fact that
Univision and Don Fransico had been promoting "Dia de Brujas" during
every "anuncio commercial" for an entire week, would not let me. It was
as closely linked to "Dia de los Muertos" as could it be and I know that the
little " hispanos" all knew the drill.
It was a "mom" who clued me in and solved the mystery. It seems that most
parents don't consider the apartments a "safe or appropriate place to trick
or treat". They think their kid is going to come home with a crack rock wrapped
up in a plastic bag if they come through "the hood". Furthermore, most kids
don't know how to yell "Trick or Treat" in Spanish. It's all nonsense. Nowadays,
the kids dress up and go to their school for a party. After bobbing
for apples and a small musical presentation, they go out as a group and
trick or treat in the "safe" neighborhoods surrounding the school. The whole thing
is chaperoned and supervised. The truth is that they go to the rich neighborhoods,
where they get the full size, name brand candy bars.
Since I'll be working, it really doesn't make any difference to me anyhow. Besides, my doorbell doesn't ring...