The Pursuit of Perfection
Husband and I celebrated our first Halloween in our new house in the most perfect neighborhood for trick-or-treating. I wish that I'd been a child again to be able to walk about three miles and receive candy from perfect strangers at about one hundred or so houses. One would think that I was the queen of Halloween as throughout the evening, as with each successive person at the door, I sternly critiqued his or her "Halloween-worthiness." There were many tricksters who did not meet my perfectionist criteria. For the reference of others, I present the following appropriate guidelines for Halloween trick-or-treaters:
1. When trick-or-treating, a person should knock on the door or ring the doorbell, rather than expect the occupants of the house to be omniscent to the presence of revellers on their doorstep. We had a few people who stood there and waited, without knocking or making any sort of effort to make their presence known.
2. When the door is opened, trick-or-treaters should say: "trick or treat" as opposed to standing there blankly and staring.
3. Trick or treaters should really wear costumes. What's wrong with you people? Not dressing up and going around to strangers begging for candy?
4. Trick or treaters should say "thank you" upon receipt of candy.
5. There really should not be trick-or-treating by proxy. A few people either a. donned a bag for an infant in the car or b. requested candy for the second bag she was holding for her cousin who, as it was explained, was at church. How do you deny candy to the vacant church-going girl on Halloween?
6. Adults shouldn't trick or treat. Period. It's just wrong. Go buy your own candy for pete's sake.
My husband thought it funny that I based my treat giving upon the above criteria. The individual's "Halloween-worthiness" dictated the number and degree of candy dispensed. Treaters sans costume received small amounts of the "bad candy" (which really wasn't all that bad), while good treaters were extolled with costume comments and a handful of the "good candy" (i.e., stuff that I would really like for myself, but I'm willing to give up because the child made a resounding effort to be "Halloweeny"). To be honest, I was really bothered by the people who didn't seem to know the basic tenets of Halloween. I'm not sure why. It proves that my pursuit of perfection knows no bounds. I set parameters for everything. Gah. It's horrible.
In running news: we're just about five days away from the OBX Marathon. I'm inspired now by a Dr. Seuss quote:
“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way.”
1. When trick-or-treating, a person should knock on the door or ring the doorbell, rather than expect the occupants of the house to be omniscent to the presence of revellers on their doorstep. We had a few people who stood there and waited, without knocking or making any sort of effort to make their presence known.
2. When the door is opened, trick-or-treaters should say: "trick or treat" as opposed to standing there blankly and staring.
3. Trick or treaters should really wear costumes. What's wrong with you people? Not dressing up and going around to strangers begging for candy?
4. Trick or treaters should say "thank you" upon receipt of candy.
5. There really should not be trick-or-treating by proxy. A few people either a. donned a bag for an infant in the car or b. requested candy for the second bag she was holding for her cousin who, as it was explained, was at church. How do you deny candy to the vacant church-going girl on Halloween?
6. Adults shouldn't trick or treat. Period. It's just wrong. Go buy your own candy for pete's sake.
My husband thought it funny that I based my treat giving upon the above criteria. The individual's "Halloween-worthiness" dictated the number and degree of candy dispensed. Treaters sans costume received small amounts of the "bad candy" (which really wasn't all that bad), while good treaters were extolled with costume comments and a handful of the "good candy" (i.e., stuff that I would really like for myself, but I'm willing to give up because the child made a resounding effort to be "Halloweeny"). To be honest, I was really bothered by the people who didn't seem to know the basic tenets of Halloween. I'm not sure why. It proves that my pursuit of perfection knows no bounds. I set parameters for everything. Gah. It's horrible.
In running news: we're just about five days away from the OBX Marathon. I'm inspired now by a Dr. Seuss quote:
“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way.”
posted by runninchick at 9:39 PM
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