First , we needed a plan: Start at the top floor and work down. We lived on four and the building had 23 stories, but getting to the penthouse was a whole thing. So we started on 22. If the elevator was slow to arrive, you could always walk down a flight.

Next: Where were the people who actually had kids? 20E, 15B, 12F, 10F, 10A, 11C. They would have good candy. Chocolate.

We knew what we had to do, and we were armed with scuffed plastic jack-o’-lantern buckets and the perennial folded-paper UNICEF box.