Trick or Treat? For whom?

I love Halloween - it's my most favorite holiday of the year. If it really isn't considered a holiday, it SHOULD be.

I took my kidlet trick or treating last night. She's 12 but she still likes getting dressed up and going out. We hit about 2 blocks of our neighborhood and then she was done. She doesn't feel the need to amass loads of candy any more. She just wanted to see all the kids in their costumes and get to play little kid herself for a while.

I know that teenagers sometimes need to push the envelope and that they sometimes go trick or treating even though they're too old. If they take the time to dress up and put forth some effort, I'll give them candy. If however, they go around ringing doorbells in regular everyday clothes, carrying a pillowcase and looking like this:

I don't want to give them any candy. I saw a guy last night that was a foot taller than I am, who had an extremely deep voice. The dude sounded like Darth Vader! In his defense, he didn't push the little kids out of the way and he waited politely but sheesh...he probably had a job earning 6 figures and could afford to buy his own candy!

Speaking of buying candy, it was sad to see how many houses were dark with the front porch lights turned off. I'm guessing the economy is so sorry, people are having a hard time even affording candy for Halloween. Houses that used to be a sure bet for the good stuff were dark and silent.

The other thing I noticed was how many cars filled the parking lots next to nice neighborhoods, so the kiddos could trick or treat in areas that would offer candy. I drove by a local high school and it looked like school was in session there were so many cars parked there! And I know that the people were crossing the street into the neighborhood because I saw droves of people crossing the street back and forth. I bet I saw 300 people head out into that area from the parking lot. I'm not here to pass judgement but it sure seemed odd to me.

I'm still a big kid and I like to go trick or treating with my kid. I'll go to the effort of putting on a costume, but I don't ask for candy. I am just along for the atmosphere. I'll keep doing it, too because that's how I roll. See?