Yes, I know I’m a couple days early since the holiday isn’t until Monday night. But I guess this holiday begs a question.
It seems to me that over the last decade we’ve become a group of people who go just as much all out for Halloween as they do for Christmas. In both cases, it’s an effort to outdo the neighbors with more decorations, more effects, and more partying than the rest of those on the street.
Yet on the other hand there’s also a trend of trying to get kids off the street and into “safe” Halloween celebrations like Night of the Living Zoo, for example. While there’s been the rumor of candy tampering around for years, there’s not the evidence to back it up. Having been a parent who did the trick-or-treating run through the neighborhood for a few years a couple decades back, I know we tossed out a few items which seemed suspicious but generally what my daughter received passed muster.
Halloween has become serious business. While it’s nice to see a vacant storefront taken over for a month or so, I’m not sure that the economic impact is lasting anymore than the length of time that miniature bag of M&M’s exists in the kid’s goodie bag before it’s consumed. And before I was talked into going to a costume party last year, I don’t think I’d dressed up for Halloween since I was maybe ten. (At least Kim and I won for best couple.)
But I think this newfound emphasis on Halloween takes away a little bit from the next big holiday on the calendar – the poor, maligned festival known as Thanksgiving. That’s now the excuse to begin shopping for Christmas, although you may snag a little bit of turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie beforehand while watching the Lions and Cowboys play football. (For once the Lions game looks like the better contest since they play the Packers while Dallas takes on the hapless Miami Dolphins. We also get a nightcap because we live in the Baltimore market and the Ravens host San Francisco.)
As for me, I’ll be glad to see all the ghosts, goblins, and fake spiderwebs put away for another year. Of course, it will only be a matter of time before stores go all out putting out the Christmas stuff. (This is also why I’ve been less able to update my site, as my workload at my outside job ramps up for the holidays too.)
But if you are out and about Monday night, try to keep it safe for the little ones. While the whole tainted candy scare is an urban myth, the reality is that there’s a few careless children struck by cars every Halloween. As they used to say on Hill Street Blues, let’s be careful out there.
