Dear Crabby, Should Halloween be Moved?

Dear Crabby,

Normally, I would have waited another three months before I asked this question, but there’s already fall decorations on store shelves and even those delicious Reese’s pumpkin-shaped chocolates are out!  So, my question is, what do you think about the recent petition to get Halloween moved to the last Saturday in October?

Thanks,
Charlene Confection

Dear Charlene Confection,

Ahh, yes. I’ve been reading about this petition. Last I heard it had over 100,000 signatures. It was originally started by a group called the Halloween & Costume Association (HCA) who believes nighttime trick-or-treating isn’t safe and the change would allow for all-day celebrations instead of parents rushing home to cram their kids in costumes and all the Halloween festivities into a two-hour period. First, they wanted to move the actual holiday, but I guess now they just want a national Trick-or-Treat day to be instituted.

I love the whole “we’re doing it for the children” angle. What a bunch of bologna. Let’s be honest, shall we? It’s all about the money. In fact, a couple of years ago I wrote a post about the whole point of trick-or-treating where I mentioned how people spend close to nine billion on Halloween; two and half billion of that just on candy! The way I see it, if Halloween does get moved to the last Saturday of October, there will be extra opportunity to make more moola off of the holiday. In fact, Mars, Inc. the maker of Snickers has pledged to give away 100 million bars if the date gets changed. Free chocolate? Some people won’t need much more motivation than that to sign on the dotted line. As it stands this year Halloween is on a Thursday, which means all those kiddos will be in sugar coma when they head off to school on Friday. I’m sure the teachers love that.

Dear Crabby sits infront of his laptop

Dear Crabby Gives Advice

Going back to how much we already spend on Halloween, having more time to decorate and throw parties seems like it will create more pressure and stress. People will be flocking to Pinterest to see how they can one-up the neighbors with lawn decorations, spooky sounds, and who knows what else. Where does it all end? Also, here’s a little history lesson for you: Halloween (All Hallows’ Eve) is meant to lead into November 1 (All Saints’ Day). They kind of depend on each other. It’s like moving Fat Tuesday to Friday so you can party all weekend. What in the world would poor Ash Wednesday do? Now I can just hear the peanut gallery saying, “But Crabby, these folks don’t want to mess with the actual date of Halloween; they just want to create a national Trick-or-Treat Day. What’s wrong with that?” Nothing. I actually think that’s a sensible solution. What I do have a problem with is that a) the HCA has partnered with Party City (told you it was about money) to try and get this idea going and b) the fact that we’re asking the federal government to stick their nose in and say it’s OK. You want a Saturday set aside specifically for trick-or-treating? Fine. But I say it should be up to the individual towns, counties, or states to make the decision. If big government comes along and decrees an official date, we’ll start seeing Halloween stuff coming out in May! And as I said earlier, this will just lead to more stress and pressure.

That’s my two cents. No matter what happens, come Halloween I’ll be in my La-Z-Boy positioned in front of my large window with my extra-large water gun ready to knock over anyone who annoys me. Until then I have some pumpkin-shaped Reese’s to eat.

Dear Crabby

 

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About Dear Crabby

Stuck in a rut? Need some biased advice from a crabby old baby-boomer? Read regularly by thousands and loved by some, Dear Crabby answers questions weekly to life's challenges. Send him a note at editor@rochestermedia.com.

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