The Median Sib

I was watching the news this morning and got a good chuckle out of one report. On “Good Morning, America,” they had a segment about a study finding that dark chocolate is actually GOOD for you. Several times during the discussion, the camera panned a table with a display of candy. Hmmm…Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate bars were the most prominent candies on display. Better yet, the study was funded by Hershey’s. I’m sorry for being skeptical — but somehow I just don’t trust the validity of that research.

Last year for Halloween I bought several bags of candy for trick-or-treaters. It was the first Halloween spent in my townhome, and I had no idea how many trick-or-treaters I would get. My grand total for the evening was zero. Not a single doorbell ring! I had the front porch light on and even a jack-o-lantern on the porch, but no one came to the door. This year, to be on the safe side, I bought candy anyway, and I’m glad I did. I’ll bet my doorbell rang five or six times! And there was with no jack-o-lantern on the porch this year.

I remember years in the past when I couldn’t even sit down between doorbell rings. There would be literally hundreds of children coming to the door. I don’t know if the dwindling numbers are due to now living in an area where there are fewer children or because fewer children are trick-or-treating. It is likely a combination of the two.

Despite all the criticism of the practice of trick-or-treating, I still think it’s fun. I enjoy seeing the children’s costumes and their excitement. I hope all the safety issues and its opponents don’t stop it.