Halloween: Kids' candy grabbing holiday or adults reverting to childhood holiday?

Before I go into any sort of discussion of Halloween, I should preface it by saying that I was an extraordinarily shy child and despised trick or treating because it meant that I had to approach people I didn't know and ask them to give me things. Aside from that, I had no neighborhood to speak of, as I was/am a country kid.

Every year, as a little kid, I wanted to be a princess for Halloween. A princess fitted out with tiara, scepter and fluffy dress. My mom happily obliged me and thus, a princess was born.

Somewhere along the way I lost my Halloween spirit and did not find it again until college.

Pullman is a town that loves Halloween. Not only is it an excuse to have a party, it's an excuse to have a party and make people dress up.

There were many soirees with friends gathered in their various costume offerings — kissing booths, dominatrices, rock stars and so on.

My most memorable costume of college life was dressing up as the lead guitarist of my fictitious band. Some friends of mine and I started entertaining the idea of dressing up as a band in early September. We made concert shirts with tour dates, picked up toy instruments and generally transformed ourselves into our punk rock alter egos.

My roommate was the singer/keyboardist/tamborine player and our other close friend was the drummer.

We had a great time and, in fact, won first prize at the Halloween party we attended for our ingenious costumes.

Despite being separated by vast distances these days, we are, at heart, still bandmates.

So, to address the question posed at the beginning of this little walk down memory lane, I think Halloween is what you make it.

As a kid, Halloween should be about getting to be someone else for a day, an evening, how ever long your Halloween party lasts. If you dress up as a pirate or football player, princess or painter it should be because there is something in that character that you enjoy or admire.

As an adult, Halloween ought to be about suspending reality for awhile. Halloween is the one day a year when you can be what ever and whomever you want without concern for general appearances. You can be a punk rocker from a pretend band or Marilyn Monroe.

I suppose Halloween is a chance to indulge your inner fantasies about who and what you are and explore them in public without anyone thinking you're a little crazy.

In the end, I must conclude that Halloween is for the young and old with equal measure. Kids get the chance to play dress-up and get a truck load of candy, guaranteed to keep them awake for many nights after the feast day has passed. Adults have the opportunity to step outside themselves and be more of the person they are in front of their mirrors at home.

Happy Halloween to all. I hope you indulge your whims and become whomever you wish, at least for a few hours.

Pam Robel is the Columbia Basin Herald's sports reporter, and promises to wear bunny ears to work next Monday.