“Dad, is it okay if I go trick-ortreating tonight?” It was Halloween and I had it all planned. I would scare up some kind of costume, maybe my cowgirl hat and Delmer’s holster and toy pistol, and walk up the road to the neighbor’s. Likely I would skip home with a bucket of candy.
Dad frowned, obviously appalled that I would even ask such a thing. “No kid of mine is going to go out begging. We can a…