Once upon, like 20 years ago, in a little town in the half fictional kingdom of Denmark my sister and I went trick-or-treating for the first time. This specific trick or treat expedition was particularly difficult/historic since the people that opened their doors did not at all celebrate the holiday and did not at all know it existed in the first place.
So I had the wonderful job of explaining to our mostly thoroughly perplexed neighbors that this thing that we were doing was an American holiday derived from different ancient traditions and they should indeed give us their candy.
Some did, most didnt.
My sister told me once that her classmates straight up refused to believe her when she in an excited moment told them about Halloween. These children was simply unable to wrap their tiny heads around the fact that this holiday wasn't just made up by my sister.
I still think about that, how people can refuse to believe in the things that make the world brighter and more colorful. But they never question time or money.
That night we took what I'm assuming to be the first trick-or-treating trip in danish or at least local history I remember being bratty and surly about having to take my sister and this thing that was just ours out into the grey night filled with rain and people that didn't understand. I could have been a braver brother, and Sam I'm genuinely sorry, I didn't understand that we were missionaries on a mission to spread the good word of the dead and the virtues of candy.
So last night when I walked around a similar cul-de-sac but this time on the other side of the Atlantic with my wife and my American family and saw all the open doors and smiling skeletons and people it made me wish I could take my sister out trick-or-treating again. Maybe one day we will go back to that little grey town wearing kickass costumes and tell them old that we told them so.
So I had the wonderful job of explaining to our mostly thoroughly perplexed neighbors that this thing that we were doing was an American holiday derived from different ancient traditions and they should indeed give us their candy.
Some did, most didnt.
My sister told me once that her classmates straight up refused to believe her when she in an excited moment told them about Halloween. These children was simply unable to wrap their tiny heads around the fact that this holiday wasn't just made up by my sister.
I still think about that, how people can refuse to believe in the things that make the world brighter and more colorful. But they never question time or money.
That night we took what I'm assuming to be the first trick-or-treating trip in danish or at least local history I remember being bratty and surly about having to take my sister and this thing that was just ours out into the grey night filled with rain and people that didn't understand. I could have been a braver brother, and Sam I'm genuinely sorry, I didn't understand that we were missionaries on a mission to spread the good word of the dead and the virtues of candy.
So last night when I walked around a similar cul-de-sac but this time on the other side of the Atlantic with my wife and my American family and saw all the open doors and smiling skeletons and people it made me wish I could take my sister out trick-or-treating again. Maybe one day we will go back to that little grey town wearing kickass costumes and tell them old that we told them so.
