The New American Holiday

Last night, as I shepherded my boys around for trick or treating, it occurred to me that Halloween might be the new national holiday. Earlier in the shift, one of our struggling boys wailed that we couldn't take away Halloween. This was after I told him that since he refused group therapy, he couldn't participate. He ended up going cause he turned it around so quickly, but I think a prime factor in determining his approval was the reverence he held for the holiday. He was emphatic about its importance.

And even though the local houses seemed a bit more subdued than recent years, the disparity in families and ages of those involved contributed to my thoughts. Families traveled in packs, including even infants and toddlers. The seniors took part too with intricately packaged treats.

Then Posh texted a lewd message that was inspired by some of the costumes she viewed on her way home from class. Even my age group gets into it. Co-workers dressed up and my peers seemed to lament the odd Wednesday placement of the holiday. It inhibited their partying. It is the one day of the year where it seems socially acceptable for woman to be as close to naked as possible, as long as they are wearing a sexy facsimile of an everyday outfit. For a couple of crazy nights, an indulgence of nurses, French maids, and schoolgirls survey the nightlife, and its all perfectly fine. People lament over their costume choices the way they once did over their Christmas gift choices.

And what of Christmas? This was the dominant holiday in my formative years. Each year, everyone watched the Grinch and participated in Secret Santa office pools. But commercialization has overtaken Christmas. Now "Merry Christmas" has been absorbed by "Happy Holidays" and it seems its never too early to get your Christmas shopping out of the way.

Posh says that Thanksgiving is still the dominant holiday. I can see her point. But that seems like the most agreed upon four day weekend. A time to see family, have awkward relations, then heal wounds by battling bargain hunters in the wee hours of the morning. I feel like Halloween still motivates people to go more out of there way. Thanksgiving involves some extra food. Halloween seems to actually encourage activity.

Either way, its still interesting to see how into it people get. I'm glad for the candy.