Thomas F. O'Neill: A trip down memory lane on Hallows-Eve 👻

By Thomas F O'Neill

I always enjoyed celebrating Halloween, even when I lived in China. But I did miss the pint-sized spooks visiting me on this particular occasion because the President of China, Xi Jinping, outlawed this ancient tradition commonly celebrated worldwide.

I always bought various bags of candies for trick-or-treaters, and I would put up a glow-in-the-dark skeleton on my front door. It was not a real skeleton like the one in the Bio-lab at the school where I taught. It was just a store-bought one, but scary nonetheless. I think that attracted all the pint-sized visitors on howling nights.

The kids didn’t say ‘trick or treat’ like American kids. They would say - ‘Gěi táng jiù dǎodà’, which means 给糖就捣蛋 if you didn't know that already.

One little witch yelled,“Hello Mr. Tom!!!” when I opened my door. She was holding a large chopstick for her magic wand. I opened the little witch’s bag to see what goodies she possessed. I then proceeded to take a few of her candy bars and a bag of M and M’s.

“Hey,” she said in a little perturbed voice, “Mr. Tom, you are supposed to give me Candy.”

“Oh,” I replied, “Is that how it works, so do you know any tricks?”

She then started singing, “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands …..”

“Oh, stop,” I said, “you are scaring me.”

I handed her a couple of candy bars, and she yelled, “thank you.”

“Good, now go away,” I replied.

“What are you doing?” she asked me while staring at my laptop computer on my desk, “Oh, homework, I hate homework,” she said as she turned and headed out my door.

Others also came on that hallows-eve, reminding me of the fun I had as a child going door to door. It was followed by mischief night. The only real mischief here was the fireworks kids set off in front of my apartment building and sticking a half-eaten apple in my glow-in-the-dark skeleton’s mouth.

Boy, I could teach those little buggers about the mischief I did as a child.

I'm afraid I had to disagree with Xi Jinping's ban on the ancient tradition of Halloween in China because I no longer had a way of getting free candy.

Don't let the ghouls, zombies, and ghosts get to you on this frightful occasion !!!!

But for all you young spooks out there, I would like to wish you a fun and Happy Halloween 👻 🎃