南韓發生的萬聖節踩踏事件是個悲劇，也是個警示——活動期間，要保護好自身安全！
萬聖節本來是歐美節日，但不知從何時起，亞洲也開始流行起來，甚至活動的豐富程度越來越大。
在盛産大公司的矽谷，萬聖節也成了各個巨頭公司競争的方向。
矽谷大公司的萬聖節裝扮競争，要從喬布斯說起。
本文選自本期TE。
萬聖節裝扮哪家強，且看矽谷各大公司
本文篇幅不長，結構如下：
1. Rivalry between Apple and Google has often been fierce. Sometimes it has played out in the courts. But once a year their competition has also been visible on the streets—in the form of
Halloween decorations.
蘋果和谷歌的競争一向激烈，有時甚至對簿公堂。但是，每年有一次，兩家公司的競争也會出現在大街上——看誰家的萬聖節裝扮更具有萬聖節的精髓。
2. Steve Jobs started it. In the 1990s, when Apple’s cofounder had young children, come October the front garden of his rambling English cottage in a leafy Palo Alto neighbourhood sprouted gruesome decor—not just skeletons and pumpkins but sound effects and special
lighting—leading to a cauldron overflowing with dry ice at the front door. Jobs himself could be spotted handing out (now defunct) Odwalla health bars, an annual disappointment for trickor treaters who heard rumours of free iPods. The family later upgraded to goodybags
that included Toblerone.
這個競争最早是喬布斯發起的。20世紀90年代，當時還是蘋果聯合創始人的喬布斯的孩子還小。
十月一到，喬布斯在帕洛阿爾托的英式房子花園前就布滿了可怕的景象，骷髅頭、恐怖南瓜，還有各種音效和特效，還有門前噴灑着幹冰的坩埚。
人們看到喬布斯給來讨糖的人發能量棒，這讓大家很失望。因為有人聽說，喬布斯會免費發放iPods。後來，喬布斯一家給的東西更新到裝有巧克力的禮品袋子。
3. When Larry Page, cofounder of Google (now Alphabet), moved into a home on a culdesac round the corner some years later, he was not to be outspooked. His displays had themes: a carnival one year, a Little Red Riding Hood forest the next. Jobs died in 2011, but his widow continued to match Mr Page’s shows. Neighbours recall hundreds of carved jackolanterns illuminating the apple orchard outside the Jobs home, and actors dressed as monsters playing hockey in the driveway.
幾年後，谷歌（如今的Alphabet公司）的聯合創始人拉裡•佩奇搬到此地，他決心“戰勝喬布斯”，成為最恐怖的萬聖節玩家。
他的裝飾都是有主題的：今年是狂歡節，第二年就是小紅帽的故事。2011年，喬布斯去世後，他的遺孀繼續與拉裡•佩奇競争。
鄰居們記得幾百個雕刻好的南瓜燈在喬布斯家外的蘋果園中閃爍不斷，穿着怪獸服裝的演員們在行車道上打曲棍球。
4. Others joined in. Not far away Yahoo’s former boss, Marissa Mayer, took to handing out kingsize candy bars and stuffed animals.
其他人也漸漸參與進來。住在不遠處的雅虎前總裁Marissa Mayer給來讨糖的人發放特大号塊糖和填充動物玩具。
5. The tech titans’ glitz and goodies drew growing crowds and hourlong queues. Locals have mixed feelings that a hometown tradition has become a regional attraction. “People here love community events so much that they risk suffocating them to death,” says Pat Burt, Palo Alto’s mayor, while cycling through the neighbourhood.
科技大亨們的萬聖節慶典和好吃的東西吸引了人們排長隊等着去“敲門”。當地人對這種家鄉的傳統演變成區域特色有着複雜的看法。
“這兒的人太喜歡社群活動，即使冒着被擠死的風險也來參加，”帕洛阿爾托市長騎車經過該社群時說到。
6. Some neighbours in the vicinity of the Jobs and Page homes lock their doors during the holiday, tired of bulkbuying candy for what they reckon can be thousands of roaming trickortreaters. Others a few blocks away have enhanced their own decor, in an effort to lure in those who park in front of their driveways but head straight to the Jobs house. “I tell the kids they can take two candies!” says one resident.
住在喬布斯和佩奇附近的鄰居在節日當天會閉門不出，因為他們受不了幾千人的讨糖大軍。
而其他街區的人們則努力把自己的裝飾弄得更加吸引人，希望那些停在他們行車道上的人能光顧自己的社群，而不是徑直走向喬布斯所在的社群。
其中一個居民說“我會告訴孩子們，（來我們這）能讨到兩顆糖。”
7. Neither the Page nor the Jobs house was yet decorated when your correspondent visited the neighbourhood this week. But Ms Mayer’s home—with pumpkins forming an archway over her front door, witches’ hats hanging from the trees, and twinkly lights—hinted at what was to come. As usual, the city has issued permits allowing Halloween activities to spill into the streets. The pandemic prompted some trickor-treaters to stay at home last year and tech-moguls to scale down their displays. It seems unlikely, however, that their Halloween excess will remain merely a haunting memory.
這周，當我們的記者去帕洛阿爾托街區采訪時，并沒有看到喬布斯和佩奇的房子有什麼裝飾。但是雅虎前總裁的房子裝飾了一些，前拱門上挂上了南瓜燈，樹上挂上了女巫的帽子還有暗示着惡魔來臨的閃爍小燈。
像往常一樣，該市已經頒發了允許在街上進行萬聖節活動的許可。去年因為疫情，讨糖活動成了居家活動，科技巨頭們也降級了自己的萬聖節裝飾。
盡管如此，他們的萬聖節裝飾将不僅僅是一個“可怕”的記憶。