Halloween

Halloween is not my favorite holiday.  It's probably not even in my top 5.  If I had to rank Halloween, it would likely fall into a tie for last with Valentine's Day.  I suppose I enjoyed Halloween when I was a kid; I seem to remember having fun deciding on a costume and trick-or-treating.  Now that I'm old, eh, not so much

In my opinion, Halloween could be so much better with just a few changes.

1. Change the date to sometime in late spring.  Half the time little kids (especially girls) are running around and freezing in skimpy costumes.  It's no fun to be Princess Jasmine if you have to cover up your pretty outfit with your winter coat.  Where I live, Halloween Day is usually cold and blustery -- snow or rain is often an unwelcome possibility.  May would be a much better month for princesses and super-heroes to trek door to door.

2. Make sure everyone knows and follows the rules.  I know I am being totally unrealistic, but isn't just about everything better when people follow the rules?  In my corner of the world the Halloween rules are pretty simple: a) observe the village's stated hours for trick-or-treating -- if trick-or-treating ends at 7:00pm, don't knock on my door at 7:10pm; b) only approach houses for candy if the porch light is turned on -- it doesn't matter if it looks as if the entire Halloween departments of JoAnn's and Michaels threw up in your neighbor's yard; if their porch light isn't turned on, they aren't participating in trick-or-treating; c) be courteous -- the proper greeting when someone opens the door is "trick-or-treat!" and the polite response upon receiving one's candy is "thank you!"  Shouting out the names of other holidays, neglecting to express gratitude, or complaining about the type of candy you received are not acceptable and, in fact, are downright rude.  d) be safe -- black bats, black witches, black cats, black vampires, black pirates and so on are difficult to see as they scurry from house to house and sometimes even dart out into the street.  A little bit of reflective tape on a costume or the glow from a flashlight can help to make little trick-or-treaters more visible as the sun goes down.  Incredibly, I saw several groups of children, accompanied by adults, and everyone was dressed completely in dark colors.  Not only can a flashlight help you be readily seen by drivers and other trick-or-treaters, it can also help you avoid falls as you navigate curbs and uneven sidewalks.