Too old to go out trick-or-treating

Originally published in the Oct. 28, 2009 issue of the Coast Report*

In addition to dressing up as the Red Ranger, I also dressed up as

the White Ninja Ranger. That's me on the right (hehe).

I gave up trick-or-treating a few years ago when I was 11 or 12. I hung up my red Power Ranger costume and resigned myself to passing out candy.

Each year I play witness to a number of trick-or-treaters, children and parents for kids too young or shy to do it themselves. But it wouldn’t be Halloween without high school and college students also out trick-or-treating.
But at what point is it considered “too old” to trick-or-treat? Every year I see the occasional high school student shamble up to the driveway and halfheartedly ask “can I have some candy” or sometimes slurring “trick-or-treat” as if they were stoned or drunk.

Most of the time these young adults don’t make any effort to even dress up for the day, not even wearing an old bed sheet for a ghost costume. Although at night some people may mistake that costume for one associated with an unsavory group of disgruntled bigots, but I digress.

They just come up in the clothing they’ve worn all day.

Instead I think it’s more fitting for them to go to some party instead. I’m sure there’s bound to be free candy at a Halloween party.

And a party should be more fun to people in their late teens and early twenties than going out trick-or-treating.

I do get the allure of Halloween. What starving high school or, especially, college student would pass up the chance for free candy that they can have all to themselves?

However, I believe that trick-or-treating should stick to the kids. When I pass out candy to these teens, a number of them start to become belligerent and demand more candy.

The little kids, on the other hand, actually say thank you. Even though it’s usually because their parents are standing a few feet away that they say it, I’ll take that over an unintelligible grunt or demands for more.

So if you’re reading this and thinking about trick-or-treating just forget about it and leave it to those little Disney princesses and Power Rangers instead.
---
*Writer's note: while I realize that my commentary isn't all that geek related, I still think it works with the overall theme. Halloween is, after all, a day where people can dress up as their childhood superhero and people won't bat an eye.