Where we live, tonight is the community’s scheduled time for youngsters to go Trick or Treating even though Halloween itself isn’t until tomorrow. But our community is going the way of the nation; that is, scheduling things for convenience and not necessarily on the traditionally given day.
We’re having Trick or Treating a day early because there’s an important local football game on Halloween; and the community elders think it would be too chaotic, too much traffic, too many choices if youngsters went door to door for their annual candy giveaway on the same night as the football game.
I don’t agree.
I understand the dilemma about traffic, etc. and that some parents may want to be at the football game while they also want to escort their children through the neighborhood in search of candy and treats. I understand there’s a choice to be made. What I don’t understand is rearranging the social calendar so that choices are eliminated. Choices are part of life. It’s the old saying about eating cake and having it too.
But then I’m bucking the trend. About thirty years ago someone started tampering with the holiday calendar to provide for three-day weekends wherever possible. Memorial Day and Labor Day quickly were re-designated. I believe Martin Luther King Day was too. In the mix, Columbus Day and Veterans’ Day all but disappeared. Now only the Fourth of July, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day remain intact so that they’re celebrated on the exact day they fall. Hopefully, they will remain that way as I wouldn’t want to celebrate Christmas on the fourth Monday of December every year, regardless of the date. Nor would I want to celebrate July 4 on the first Monday in July. Some traditions are worth keeping.
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