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Halloween Teens

Andrée Gendron

    Another Halloween came and went. Inevitably a few tall beggars show up solo or in pairs to our cozy three-car garage neighborhood of well-lit front doors holding out pillowcases. They don’t bother to wear costumes, although their faces look pale and hollowed out like vampires. Diminished expressions and their humble demeanor make me think these teens are not enjoying the true spirit of the evening. Of course not. I doubt these particular trick-or-treaters want candy. Most likely they’re local strays who might appreciate warm hats, gloves, and socks more than chocolate.
    That may sound funny but it wasn’t meant to be. Suburbia spits out a fresh batch of these Lost Boys every year. The number of homeless Americans under the age of 20 are at an all-time high. Maybe they dropped out of high school or finished K-12 without a clue of what to do next. Perhaps they tend to be moody or mouthy, troubled or ungrateful. So what? Regardless of why they appear to be spinning their wheels on your newly polished floors parents view them as emotional and financial burdens. Well-adjusted adults grow impatient to get on with their own lives so ‘bad eggs’ are tossed out like garbage. They become Lost Boys.
    I never give them anything but candy unless they ask. We can always spare five or ten lousy bucks toward a hot meal. I want to put pillows in their pillowcases. That way they’ll at least have something soft to rest their heads on while they shiver in the woods or lay awake in heated 24/7 laundromats wishing they had taken out the trash more often or cleaned their rooms with enthusiasm.
    The unconditional love of supportive parents should have entitled them to a free ride until they figured out the next phase of their young lives, right? No, not always. Life is sometimes like an endless night of trick-or-treating, kiddos. Good luck out there and God bless.

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