Halloween

After last year, I vowed that as a teacher, I would never again attend school on these two days: Halloween and Valentine's Day. Reason: Candy. I don't think middle schoolers should be allowed to eat candy ever. They get all greedy for it, and then they eat candy ALL DAY on Halloween and Valentine's, and they wreak havoc on everyone who crosses their paths. Turns out this resolution was thankfully unnecessary, but it did come to mind and induce a bit of a cringe as I observed the general public's Halloween preparations over the past week.

I don't really like holiday seasons. This is a picture that I took three days before Halloween, standing in line at one of those Halloween Spirit stores to buy pumpkin carving kits for a company event. Of course I'm not surprised that the store was crowded (with many whining children and parents), but is anyone actually in the mood to endure a transaction at a seasonal store so close to a holiday? So there's one thing that I don't like about the holidays. Stores get crowded, often with children who are greedy.

I also don't understand the need to wear and display tacky and impractical things. I'm not going to give examples of this. Since the Halloween weekend is now officially over, if you don't know what I'm talking about, walk into any department store and you'll see what I mean when you get practically slapped in the face with Christmas decorations.

I do like Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Thanksgiving. Because those are the days for actual family time and relaxation and not for being greedy and tacky. Also, there are usually Law & Order marathons on those days. The holiday seasons, though, I could do without. A quote from a favorite movie:

"Christmas is not only getting too commercial, it's getting too dangerous."

- Linus, A Charlie Brown Christmas