I blame it in part on an article in the San Francisco Chronicle exposing my hood as one of the best undiscovered haunts for Halloween trick-or-treaters looking to cash-in on major cavity enhancing processed treats. Here’s how it read:
San Francisco
“The best-kept secret in the city on Halloween is St. Francis Wood, two blocks east of Stern Grove. The houses are huge and decorated to the max, the tall trees throughout the neighborhood give it just the right amount of spookiness and it’s super safe for kids.... Most important: good candy.
Well, guess those loyalists who still read the paper caught on quick and chartered buses to my front porch, where entire families (moms, dads, kids, babies, aunts and uncles) came in clever costumes to collect. I’ve always found it queer when parents, some not even in funny costumes, stick their bag in my face with a smile and an irresistible “trick-or-treat” that makes it impossible not to comply.
What am I going to do? Scold them? You’re not a kid. You don’t even live anywhere in the vicinity of my best-kept secret decorated block of homes and tree-lined streets. You are just here to cash in on the free crap and I’m too dignified to call you on this freeloading business.
On the other hand, there is a bad recession in the country and perhaps collecting pounds of free sugar and trans is the way to go for those short on grocery money. It’s hard to know how to feel about it.
I do know I miss the days when trick-or-treaters were kids in your neighborhood, you watched them grow up and play and you loved seeing what they did to themselves on this magical evening of pretend.
I did enjoy sitting out on my front porch, which has become a bit of a stranger to me since my own girls no longer play in the street and sidewalk, but come in through the back after school, go right to the computer, eat dinner, then do homework. It was the subject of recent installment in my EcoSalon column, Life in the Green Lane.
So, I sat out last night on Halloween 2009, sipping red wine with my husband and a good friend, as hundreds of strangers poured into my quintessential Halloween hood to get that good candy. I never realized this annual treat fest would bring me closer to my city and its denizens. Guess there is nothing like a Milky Way to bridge the gap.
