Halloween
Halloween, as most of you know, is celebrated on the 31st of October. The money spent for this day is second only to Christmas. Halloween has its roots in the West European (W-E) belief that evil spirits like sweets or candy. And fear of evil spirits is, of course, universal and culture-independent.
Children, being as smart as we are, try to make the most out of this situation. We dress up as evil spirits (sometimes due to logistical reasons we might not appear so funny. More about that later) and try to scare the living daylights out of adults. Having been indoctrinated by the evil spirit - candy relationship, adults give candy to anyone/anything who/that resembles an evil spirit.
In the spirit of this tradition (pun was intentional), my non-Western-European (n-W-E) parents decided to make the most (candy) out of this W-E belief. As an initial investment, they went to the local BabiesRUs shop and bought me 2 Halloween dresses which were on sale. These dresses didn't look bad for a meager investment of $10.
What happened next was hilarious. I overheard Amma calling her friends and telling them that her 'little devil' would come trick-or-treating to their houses. Nanna went a step further that he would be taking me to his friends' houses for "trick-or-toy"ing. I ask, isn't this a blatant violation of the unholy evil spirit-candy relationship?
Anyway, I am not complaining. What would I do with a bagful of candy? I don't even have teeth! I would prefer a toy (or a dress indeed) anyday instead of a candy. Also, I figured a toy would be a better RoI for my parents' investment :-)
Alright, alright. Enough of the pre-Halloween stuff. Let me recount what happened on the actual day. I got ready in my "Tulip Fairy" avatar - ready to scare the W-E and n-W-E adults alike. Now now, don't ask me what a Tulip Fairy has to do with evil spirits. These adults are usually so scared to see someone like me that they do not stop to think if I am a friendly creature or not.
Just in case you were wondering what I looked like - here I am. Booo!
I am quite sensitive. So, please refrain from passing any insensitive comments about my dress. Of course, any such comments could be directed to Amma/Nanna - since they chose this dress.
Being a meticulous planner, I chose to divide my target audience into 2 groups - for logistical reasons. The first comprised of Amma's friends. We targeted them early in the day - nothing better than catching them bright and early. After collecting my rewards, I went home - eagerly waiting for evening when I could target the 2nd group - Nanna's friends.
(to be continued...)
Children, being as smart as we are, try to make the most out of this situation. We dress up as evil spirits (sometimes due to logistical reasons we might not appear so funny. More about that later) and try to scare the living daylights out of adults. Having been indoctrinated by the evil spirit - candy relationship, adults give candy to anyone/anything who/that resembles an evil spirit.
In the spirit of this tradition (pun was intentional), my non-Western-European (n-W-E) parents decided to make the most (candy) out of this W-E belief. As an initial investment, they went to the local BabiesRUs shop and bought me 2 Halloween dresses which were on sale. These dresses didn't look bad for a meager investment of $10.
What happened next was hilarious. I overheard Amma calling her friends and telling them that her 'little devil' would come trick-or-treating to their houses. Nanna went a step further that he would be taking me to his friends' houses for "trick-or-toy"ing. I ask, isn't this a blatant violation of the unholy evil spirit-candy relationship?
Anyway, I am not complaining. What would I do with a bagful of candy? I don't even have teeth! I would prefer a toy (or a dress indeed) anyday instead of a candy. Also, I figured a toy would be a better RoI for my parents' investment :-)
Alright, alright. Enough of the pre-Halloween stuff. Let me recount what happened on the actual day. I got ready in my "Tulip Fairy" avatar - ready to scare the W-E and n-W-E adults alike. Now now, don't ask me what a Tulip Fairy has to do with evil spirits. These adults are usually so scared to see someone like me that they do not stop to think if I am a friendly creature or not.
Just in case you were wondering what I looked like - here I am. Booo!
I am quite sensitive. So, please refrain from passing any insensitive comments about my dress. Of course, any such comments could be directed to Amma/Nanna - since they chose this dress.Being a meticulous planner, I chose to divide my target audience into 2 groups - for logistical reasons. The first comprised of Amma's friends. We targeted them early in the day - nothing better than catching them bright and early. After collecting my rewards, I went home - eagerly waiting for evening when I could target the 2nd group - Nanna's friends.
(to be continued...)
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