Thursday, October 27, 2005

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

And now, from John Scalzi comes our...

Weekend Assignment #83: Your Halloween Story

Weekend Assignment #83: Tell us a scary Halloween story... that happened to you.

It's not scary, but it is a Hallween story. 

Until I was twelve years old we had no indoor bathroom facilities; my parents were the telephone operators in a small town, and our living room was pretty much open to the public.  There were no phone booths in town, so if someone away from home needed to make a phone call, they'd see the "Bell" telephone sign on our porch, knock, and come on in.  Needless to say, everyone nearby knew us.  Which means we were often a target for Halloween pranks.

The outhouse was the last place I'd go before going to bed at night, and my first destination upon waking in the morning; unless it was bitter cold, in which case there was a metal "pot" under the bed.  It wasn't ever cold enough by Halloween to necessitate a pot.

Imagine waking up the morning after Halloween with a loaded bladder, heading out to the toilet, and seeing the outhouse laying on its side.  Desperation!

Yep.  That was the most popular "trick" in the fifties in small-town America.  And it didn't matter whether the kids got a "treat" or not.  In fact, the toilet-tippers were usually older teenagers who hadn't even gone around asking for treats.

Extra Credit: The song "Monster Mash": Fun or lame?   As lame as it gets.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

HA HA....  Cute..  When I was 5 years old my parents took us overseas to the Azores, and in those days (back in the early 1970's) homes in the countryside still did not have inside plumbing.  I sometimes spent the night at my mother's aunt's home in the country that summer, and the kids all slept in an loft along with my mother's older aunt.  I remember waking up in the middle of the night to see this older woman sitting on a white pot.  It WAS SCARY, and I remember hiding underneath the blankets hoping that she didn't see me.  Julie :)
http://journals.aol.com/coelha/CoelhaThoughts

Anonymous said...

Great story!  

Maybe I will have to consider doing this one from John!  
You got me started on this, you know? lol

Jackie

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful story. Not in the fact that they tipped the toilet but that I'm hearing about experiences of a time that I'll never know about first hand. My parents had stories like this and I loved listening to them. Thanks for sharing.

Monster Mash? If it's the song I am thinking of...it's fun but will never be a truly "great" song.

-Raven

Anonymous said...

cute story....LOL....and I remember the "outhouse trick"....didn't do it...never went trick or treating..in the country...no houses close by....but somehow the "gang" could find our outhouse....LOL...Hugs..Ora

Anonymous said...

Where did you grow up?

Anonymous said...

Hey there,

When I tell people we didn't have indoor plumbing until we moved to town when I was 8, they look at me like I'm from another planet.  I remember that kids tipped over outhouses as a Halloween prank; this is a great story, thanks.

Judi