A couple of my Facebook friends recently posted that they’ve already done their decorating for Halloween, and it made me reflect on a few things like “When was the last time I actually really decorated for Halloween?” (I believe the answer is “Never”), and “Isn’t it a little early to decorate for Halloween?” (At the time of the posting it was still a month away so I say “Yes.”). We all have seen the escalation in decorating for Halloween, a holiday that most decorations used to just be the occasional jack-o-lantern and construction paper cutouts we would make in grade school to now a full-blown decoration feast where Halloween Factory stores will pop up for a couple of months so you can buy the latest, giant, inflatable witch to put in your front yard, and it has now become a competition for one neighbor to out-decorate their other neighbor, much in the way Christmas used to be. Back in the day there was always the one house that was uber-decorated, usually by the handyman who will build some sort of scary, haunted house theme, but now anyone can buy a cheap-looking, five-foot tall, Chinese made, lighted pumpkin that has a good chance of blowing away before the holiday even get here.
Maybe I would get into the holiday a little more if I had kids, but for me it has turned into a holiday where I end up with too much leftover candy because I never learn that I will get five kids, at the most, coming to my door for candy, thus leaving me with a couple of bags of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Maybe if I did decorate I would get a few more kids, but I also know that if I open that decorating door that suddenly my car will be packed with Halloween tchotchkes, my wife will wonder what is wrong with me, and my neighbors will be upset because now the “Halloween Decorating Competition” will be on and suddenly I’ll have to bust out the circular saw and build a haunted house. I believe it is that first piece of yard decoration that starts it all, but I also plight: Do you decorate for Halloween like you do for Christmas?
That’s it for this plight! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!