Who came around and dubbed all teens "too old" to participate in Halloween festivities like trick-or-treating? And who said the only thing a teen can be for Halloween (for a party of course, because what teen would ever be caught dead trick-or-treating at their age..) is a sexy pirate or some sort of hoodlum with a baggy sweatshirt?
A bunch of my friends were all working on college applications tonight. On Halloween. I finished my November 1st app early so I didn't have to be like those unfortunate souls (do you like my little Halloween puns? First it was "caught dead" then it was "unfortunate souls". I'm pretty good.)
I have trick-or-treated every single year since I was born. I remember all of the things I have been throughout the years. I was a ballerina once, I was a red M&M (that was a good one), I was a cheerleader once, a wizard (who knows what I was thinking..I looked like a boy), Tigger (good one for Boston fall nights), the Rubik's cube (I wore it for 2 years in a row - and I won a Halloween contest at school! But I have yet to receive the pizza party for me and 3 of my friends), a witch, and this year and last year I was the Bride of Frankenstein. That was a good one. Those are the only ones I can remember. But I never thought Halloween was dorky or babyish. Even in those "tween years". When everyone else was trying the "half devil half angel" and other angsty tween costumes, I was Tigger. Yes, there was a padded stomach and a hood with ears. And of course there was a tail.
I don't understand why people think it's uncool to dress up and walk around to other people's houses and ask for candy. It's like a tradition. Are you too cool to get presents on Christmas? Or hunt for eggs on Easter? Or watch fireworks on the Fourth of July? Oh, you aren't? Well then, put on a costume.
My aunt in Chicago has a cool idea to encourage teens to wear costumes. She told my cousin's friends that if they wanted any candy, they better be wearing costumes when they come by or they get a toothbrush. Take that, I'm-too-cool-for-school-ers!
I think Halloween is fun. And it shouldn't take you until you're an adult to realize that you wish you had done the things you didn't do because you thought you were too cool. You don't ever want to regret doing something fun like trick-or-treating. Like when I was in Costa Rica, we rode horses to this big waterfall and we all were going to go in the water. But none of us had swim suits on. In fact, we were wearing jeans and shirts. Not exactly swim wear. But then this girl took off her shirt, and wearing only her bra and her jeans, she went over to the edge of the waterfall with her friend. And she said 'come on, let's jump!' and then a few others followed after them both. When you think about it, how many other times would I be at a waterfall in Costa Rica? How many other chances would I have to jump into a natural waterfall in central America? For all I know, that was the only time. So I jumped in, jeans and all. And jeans are a dreadful thing to swim in, especially with a current, and I could barely swim in it, even though I'm a swimmer. Some other kid had to drag me up.
And then we rode off into the midday sun on our horses, all soaked and dirty. But do I regret it? No. I probably would have if I didn't jump.
Don't wait to jump. Just jump right in. Halloween might come every year, but don't pass it by. Take everything as if it were the last time you were doing it.
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