All Hollows' Eve

Those who know me well know I really don't care for Halloween. It's all well and good for kids, and it's sweet to see the little ones dressed up and screeching around the neighborhood yelling trick-or-treat and collecting their candy. But as an adult, even that excitement comes with a lot of effort. I have some friends and co-workers who really get into it, and lemme tell ya, sometimes it's downright frustrating.

So Halloween dawns again, and the first hurdle of the day to tackle was candy at work. I'm not talking about one candy dish that can be ignored throughout the course of the day. I mean goody bags on all of our desks and BIG baskets of candy on every filing cabinet, from the one at the front door all the way to the bathrooms in the back. No one could go anywhere without being faced with candy. And it was the good stuff, too. How do you say no to the good stuff when it's everywhere?!?

At the end of the day, I noticed that our office did a pretty good job of polishing off a good several pounds of candy. I said a silent prayer of thanks that I had remembered my gym bag and promptly went there after stepping off the train...only to be confronted with more food! This was just downright appalling. Food at the gym. Halloween treats. The so-bad-it's-good stuff. Yes, at my gym. Now please tell me what makes any health club manager think rolling in trays of cupcakes, popcorn balls, candy, and brownies is good for the members? Most of us are there for one of two reasons: We either have a weight problem and wish to correct it, or we're happy where we're at and wish to keep it at that and maintain a healthy lifestyle. The calorie and fat laden food, though surely yummy, was an unnecessary temptation (although a realy nice gesture nonetheless).

But the biggest, weirdest, slightly spooky oddity of the day was my walk home tonight. There was no one on the street. Not a car. Not a person walking. No kids shrieking. No trick-or-treaters. Nothing. It was definitely weird, and I almost feel as though there's some joke I am missing out on.

Oh- and the biggest, baddest travesty of all: Where the hell are the Halloween cartoons this year? Did I miss them all whilst in France, or are the networks just screwing with me? No Great Pumpkin? You've got to be kidding me.