Crapt fattie fattie by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org
I don’t take part in Hallowe’en, I don’t feel guilty, and I don’t support giving out handfuls of candy to anyone for any reason. Our focus, socially, is off. I have a few other reasons to dislike the holiday, including the passing of my mother, lots of lost childhood popularity contests, and a dislike for the faux, but this post is about giving, identity, and food.
I am a socialist, if you need to know, on the political scale, but I’d rather give someone money or help or some other support than candy. I refuse. We should all be giving things away to those who need them, and not recollecting in different forms. I suggest Goodwill, or freecycling. But the idea of us all buying the same candy from the same distributors in droves to exchange with each other out of some wacky societal pressure to take part is, in a word, odd.
Have a party if you like, dress up for kicks if that’s what you’re into. For me, I think there is enough wonder, mystery, and surprise in who we actually are, and that we should focus on that. You should get to know me, and in reading this post you are, much more so than if I came to your door or party dressed as Heisenberg from Breaking Bad. I support getting to know others, though I’ve never done it on Hallowe’en in a 30 second exchange at the door, often with people I have only ever seen at my door for that purpose. I have gotten to know people better at gatherings, but no one needs to wait until the 31st of October to have a gathering. You can even wear costumes if you like, but I’d prefer to see you dressed to explain who you are, not how well you can emulate someone else’s creation. Make your own character, and have it be a bit about you. Or, just be you.
No one needs to eat a bag of candy. No one. This blog is nothing if not about health, and I would be dishonest if I said that it was fine and okay to excite anyone about eating thousands of calories in some gluttonous orgy of chocolate. Have some delicious, extraordinary chocolate, be aware of how much you had, and enjoy it. I had a bagel today, a treat, with some dark chocolate in it. The warm, toasted chocolate met and mingled with the salt in the bagel. It was delicious, and special, and no one ever handed one to me at their door on Hallowe’en.
In much the same way that other American holidays are about purchases, discounts, fear, escaping identity, excess, comparison and guilt, I think this one leads the pack. I’m not participating.
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