You’re never too old to trick or treat

There was a recent discussion in the community about what age is too old to dress up and go out trick or treating on Halloween.

 Tradition has dictated that the beginning of the teen years and adolescence was getting a little old to go out into the cold and dark night in search of sugary sweets.

 I’m changing my mind on that notion based on a pretty good point someone made. Why not let teens dress up and go out trick or treating? They could watch out for the little kids and stay out of trouble. 

 I’m all for providing an alternative to vandalism and mayhem. Although a minor offense, someone always smashed our pumpkins on the front porch in the early morning hours of Halloween. 

 Hey, if someone who is 80 years old wants to dress up and go out trick-or-treating, I’m all for it. They should be rewarded with some choice candy for showing their spooky side. 

 Please, all I ask is the costume abide by a sense of decorum. I’m not a fan of costumes that make fun of other cultures by invoking racial stereotypes. Forget the Native American costume. Choose a nice zombie outfit instead.

 

• • •

 The combined top prizes for the Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots topped $2 billion on Monday, an astounding sum of money invested in a game of wildly improbable chance.

 The Mega Millions jackpot reached $1.6 billion, the largest lottery prize in U.S. history, while the Powerball top prize was $620 million. 

 Everybody knows the odds of winning the lottery are astronomical, and it seems like it has gotten even  more difficult at the same time the price of a ticket has gone up.

 If you worked out the math, I think you’ll find that  you’re more likely to get hit by a bus and lightning twice in the same day as you are of  winning the big prize. 

 There are six numbers to pick to win the Mega Millions. There are 302 million possible combinations of those six numbers. How tough is it to match all six numbers? Consider that the top prize has rolled over for 25 drawings because nobody could hit it. 

 That doesn’t stop people from casting aside the reality of those crushing odds to engage in a little daydreaming about what we would do with all that money. 

 Lotteries usually make some lucky person a millionaire, and that is certainly life changing for most people. But we’re talking billionaire here with the Mega Millions jackpot.

 Forget buying a nice Mercedes with personalized license plates that say “easymony,” I’m thinking big, maybe an NFL team. Unlimited refills on my soft drinks because I also own the stadium.

 Mega Millions lottery officials said it was increasingly likely someone would match the winning numbers on Tuesday night as more people bought tickets. 

 Maybe there will be a winner and a newly minted billionaire by the time you read this.

 Steve Lyon is the editor of the Weiser Signal American. Contact him at scoop@signalamerican.com