I knew I'd moved in a haunted house

Halloween is my least favorite "holiday" of the year. At the risk of sounding like an old grump, to me it has become more of an excuse for gross-outs and adults behaving badly. And my patience for both has mostly disappeared.

It wasn't always this way.

My neighborhood growing up in Shavertown, Pa., had a tradition that I never heard of, before or since. And people I tell today don't believe it, but I remember it well.

As I trudged up and down Mt Airy Road and Pioneer Avenue with my double-enforced Acme shopping bag (no fancy candy-gathering totes from Michaels or Target for us), I knew that I had to be prepared before knocking on anyone's door.

It was expected that each trick-or-treater come equipped with a joke, a song, a riddle, or something. You had to give to get.

My go-to something for at least several years was this riddle, which speaks of my age and wit:

If you were going to die and only had five cents in your pocket, what would you buy?

Wait for it...

A pack of Life Savers.

Laughs all around, and then the candy went in the bag. Lots of candy.

I also vaguely remember doing a song and maybe another joke in previous and subsequent years, but the details are long gone.

Just like my enjoyment of this "holiday." Sorry.

Tracing your footsteps...

There is a new AM station (yes I still listen to AM radio) in my neck of the woods that plays comedy bits, one short snippet after another, by stand-up comics. To me, this is a new format, although I am sure this is common on satellite radio. And at first, I thought it promising, if not ingenious.

Until I listened to it for a while.

In the combined couple of hours I listened in total, I think I laughed once. To a Bill Cosby bit.

So I started wondering if the problem is not with the material, or the presentation, but maybe with me. Perhaps I have lost my ability to appreciate comedy. Maybe I don't know what's funny anymore. Maybe trying times have destroyed what is left of my sense of humor.

Until I was reminded of and saw Jack's Halloween costume.

The classics never go out of style. And my kid gets it.

That makes for a Happy Halloween.