Personal blog of christian
writer & fallible mom
Katy McKenna Raymond
in Kansas City, Missouri
Katy is represented by
Rachelle Gardner at
WordServe Literary
Read more Katy at
LateBoomer.net
Recent Posts
- Soul Train
- Live Out Your Dream And Discard The Box
- Tears In A Bottle
- From The Young Mom I Once Was, To You
- I Can’t Help Falling
- What A Difference Ten Years Makes
- The Next Best Thing To Robert Redford
- The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
- Where Have All The Years Gone
- Fun With Kiki Cullen
- Stuck On Mom
- Ten Years Later, Our Girls From Northern Ireland Remembered
- The Thrift of Grief
- Job Security
- The Party’s Over
Syndicate
E me at katy @ ngenius.com
Scary
I’ll go ahead and admit up front that I’m no great fan of Halloween.
I’m also, in principle, against the whole concept of saying stuff like, “What if just once we all agreed to ban (name your least favorite holiday or movie or fast food restaurant or coffee joint here) for one day? And then contributed all the money not spent foolishly to some worthy cause—say AIDS relief in Africa?”
We will never agree to do anything on one day, because each of us believes that other people’s vices should be easier for them to forego than ours are. So, it’s easy for me to think “Let’s all abandon Halloween JUST THIS ONCE and contribute the money we would have spent on candy and costumes and decorations to eradicate hunger in the world,” because, you see, I don’t love Halloween.
There’s my caveat. I know I’m prejudiced against Halloween. Now that you know, too, I’ve got to ask: How much do you think Americans will spend on everything related to Halloween this season? (If you read the answer in the papers or online recently, please don’t answer! I want genuine guesses, because I’m curious what you think.)
How much will the nation spend to celebrate the holiday? Ten million? Twenty million? Fifty million?
Bono launched his Red campaign on Oprah yesterday. A portion of everything (marked with the Red trademark) purchased from selected outlets will be used to keep AIDS victims in Africa alive. So far, the shops who’ve signed on are The Gap, Apple, Armani, and a couple others. I personally love everything Bono does and stands for and bet he’ll raise a gazillion bucks with this idea. More power to him for recognizing what it will take to motivate Americans to give.
Still, it makes me sad that all that’s required of the American consumer to make him feel like he’s “saving lives” is to purchase a Red Ipod at Apple, since good old Apple will contribute $10 to the campaign for every Red sold. Shopping now equals giving, and while consumption-based giving is better than nothing (a lot better), it feels…funny.
I think about the Scripture verse where King David says “I will not give a gift that costs me nothing,” and I wish I was willing to hurt a bit more than I do when I suggest that all of you Halloween lovers should cough up your candy money to make the world a better place.
Just in case my idea (which costs me nothing, by the way, since I spend nothing on Halloween) takes off, tell me: How much will Americans spend this October? Anything you’d rather see us spend it on than skeletons and witches and pirates?
Or would you keep Halloween and harvest the money saved by forgoing Starbucks for a day?
I don’t know how much is spent, but I did hear that over 50% of people decorate their houses/or yards (or both) for the holiday, and 75% of people dress up (including adults.) I would assume that at least 75% also buy candy for trick-or-treaters. (I know some people who spend $100 or more on candy because they live in the “right” subdivisions.) For what it’s worth, I hate Halloween, too.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 10/14/06 at 02:25 PMI loathe Halloweeen too, and for years I have been telling Christians that’s it’s not just harmless fun. (Years ago I was into the occult. I know what I’m talking about.)
Anyway, I have no idea what’s spent on it, but then again, I usually can’t figure out why everything costs so much. It’s probably in the top three in holiday spending, along with Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Maybe even #2 behind Christmas?
Regarding the “Red” stuff, yeah, it’s so easy to buy something to be charitable. You don’t have to get your hands dirty, and you can let someone else do the grunt work. No worries about giving time and talent.
I’m all for keeping AIDS victims alive, but I’m hoping that someone launches a huge AIDS PREVENTION campaign in Africa, and I’m not talking condoms.
Posted by Suzan on 10/14/06 at 02:46 PMHear hear! Every bit of it.
Posted by Ginger on 10/14/06 at 02:54 PMOK, here’s a hint. If you take approximately 300 million souls in the US and divide that number into the enormous amount projected to be spent on Halloween this year, the average $$ per man, woman, and child turns out to be a VERY SPOOKY NUMBER. Now anyone want to guess???
I will respond to my commenters tomorrow, but now, hypocrite that I am, I must finish getting ready for my Octoberfest party for 40!!! (Our adult Sunday School class. Well, most of us are adults….)
Posted by Katy on 10/14/06 at 03:29 PMI am not fond of Halloween, but I remember when my children were and I guess it is fun for the young and the young at heart.
I guess I don’t spend much on the holiday.. . I buy a little candy and that is all so it is no big deal.
Now you have me wondering which holiday I would like to give up.
Okay, I got one. . Veteran’s Day. I would like to have a time when wars are so in the past that we do not need to honor are fallen with a special day.Posted by Maria on 10/15/06 at 04:52 PMBridget—Maybe it’s the decorations that strike me as extreme overkill. I remember Mom buying a skeleton for the front door one year, and it lasted for the next 25 or so. For what? A buck?
Suzan—I’ve not been involved in the occult personally, but the darker side of Halloween is too close for comfort, IMO.
Ginger—Hey! Hear, hear to you, too! :)
Maria—My kids got to go around on our own block when they were little, with us. Then when they got older, there were always parties for them to go to on that night, or something fun. Your idea about not needing Veteran’s Day? Brilliant. I wish it could be so.
Now, for the $$$$ figure on how much will be spent this Halloween? Five BILLION, which if you use the very extremely round figure of 300 million residents, amounts to $16.66 for every man, woman, and child—whether they participate or not.
Posted by Katy on 10/16/06 at 08:39 AMYou must be talking about that plastic witch decoration! I think we finally threw it out when we cleaned out the house. It lasted FOREVER, but it’s something I’ll always remember. She had a huge nose that stuck out, a big black hat and a wart. Ah, what memories.
Posted by Bridget on 10/16/06 at 11:29 AMOkay, I’m gonna go against the grain and say I enjoy Halloween. It’s the only day of the entire year the neighborhood opens its doors and everyone is out and about. For me, it’s about showing up and being a neighbor and welcoming my neighbor’s children into my life. If a couple of bags of candy isn’t worth than, well, I just don’t know.
If we want to take this all to the limit of consistency, let’s remove Christmas trees and Easter baskets too.
I don’t allow my children to dress up as anything bloody or spooky, just so you know. I do have limits on what’s acceptable.
Posted by lisa on 10/30/06 at 09:20 AMLisa—I remember you blogging last year or the year before about your enjoyment of Halloween. And we always did it, too—I just don’t personally love it.
And I’m not AT ALL in favor of giving up a holiday across the board and donating all that money to charity, because everyone has their favorite celebrations and should be entitled to. It’s still a (kind of) free country.
I love it when you go against the grain. And since my grain might be a little more woofy than warpy, have at it!! :)
Posted by Katy on 10/30/06 at 09:39 AM
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