Everyone in this house loves Halloween. It's such a fun holiday. You get to wear a costume, have fun with friends, and collect lots of candy. If you're not the adult accompanying children on trick-or-treat, you get to answer the door and see all the neighborhood kids dressed up in their costumes. What's not to like?
Well, there's one thing I don't like about Halloween (besides those nasty little cardboard boxes of Dots): kids who trick-or-treat but don't bother to wear costumes. 
That hasn't been a problem in this neighborhood, but before we moved here, there were an awful lot of teenagers who would go around on Halloween begging for candy, without a costume or even a candy bag or pillowcase. Come on, put on a mask already!
The first year this happened, I'd just say, "What? No costume?" to the kids. And I was a bit less generous in doling out handfuls of treats from the big bowl by the door.
The next year, I got creative. Having taught in middle schools and high schools, I knew that teens enjoy sneaking a little candy during class. "Jolly Rancher" candy is very popular among kids of this age; they're portable, they don't melt, and they last a long time. And as a candy fan myself, I knew that Jolly Rancher makes cinnamon-flavored "Fire Stix." They're red, just like the cherry, strawberry, and watermelon stix--but they taste more like an Atomic Fireball. I was able to get a few bags of Fire Stix, and reserved those just for the costume-free teenagers.
When they came to the door, I tossed a nice handful of Fire Stix into their bags (or their hands, if they couldn't even be bothered carrying a bag.) "OOO, Jolly Ranchers! Thanks!" was the inevitable response.
I'm pretty sure that they all got a big surprise the next day in the middle of math class when they unwrapped those Jolly Ranchers and discovered that these candies are not cherry-flavored.
Revenge, in this case, was not sweet: it was spicy!
Happy Halloween! I'll be back Monday with more Weird Holidays and lots of coupons.
