Halloween. Most take full advantage of this unique holiday, for lack of a better word. It’s a night full of spooks, tricks, treats and booze. This is the time of year that supposedly anyone, young and old, can enjoy to its fullest potential.
Unfortunately, I’m not most people. To me, Halloween is the most unenjoyable time of the year. It’s so overrated and a complete waste of time, at least at my age.
When I was younger, I couldn’t wait for Halloween. I could pretend to be somebody or something else, and it was cool. However, I never did understand why my mom would get so frustrated with me around this time.
That is until now. I completely understand why it was such a hassle to find a costume, buy candy, stay up late, mingle with people you don’t know and for what? Sure, it’s a great time for children; dressing up in fun outfits and hanging out with your friends is fun. There’s not a care in the world, and your mom and dad take care of everything. But now that I am in college and have to handle Halloween all on my own, my views of this grand festivity have changed.
Every year, I have to find a costume that, no matter what time of year it is, will cost me a good $40. This means I have to find time out of my already busy schedule to fight the crowds at costume shops to find the costume I want in my size. Only it never really works out that way. You claw your way through a mob of last minute shoppers to an open space at the counter, furiously pointing out the outfit you want to the lady who’s about to give the last one to the young lady next to you. Great. Now all that’s left is for her to try it on with her non-deodorized arm pits, leaving half of her orange face around the collar for you to admire as you get second dibs on it.
Is it worth it? Not when you know that, regardless of how cute the costume may be, you’re going to walk into a dressing room that’s as big as the sorority house closets with a mirror that makes you look 50 pounds heavier. Five characters later, you’re pulling out your credit card to pay for a costume you settled for. Fantastic.
The shopping. that’s only the beginning. The fun begins when it’s time to show off your final purchases and hope that the one person you can’t stand isn’t wearing the same outfit, or worse, looks better in it. Don’t get me wrong, the parties are fun, to an extent. But honestly, to me, it’s just another party. Only this time, people can dress as provocatively as they like without feeling like a total sleaze. At the end of the night, at my age, you get no candy, and you have a $40 costume that you can’t wear next year. Because, let’s face it, been there, done that.
Halloween. It can be fun when you’re young. But seriously? Why don’t we just all cut out the sugar coating and just be real: you want to dress up in a less-than-appealing outfit to get completely annihilated and take goofy pictures. Fine. Just definitely not for me. Nope. I’ll be spending my Halloween with some great friends, hanging out, doing what I want to do, and I’ll have $40 extra than you.
Opinion editor Patricia Espinosa is a junior broadcast journalism major from Mission.
