[geeks] Halloween

[Michael A. Turner]

> However, wouldn't you know the moment I had to flick on the kitchen
> light for something, someone's banging on my door.  Gah.  What a
> pointless holiday.  Samhain, I can get into, even if it's not my
> religion.  As a Lutheran, Reformation Day means a lot fo me.  But this
> Halloween crap is just nonsense.
> 
> -- 
> Jonathan Patschke  ) "Earth works.  That's proof positive that Mother

	I did some thinking on the nature of Halloween this Halloween while
taking my kid around my sisters neighborhood. Halloween is the last good
holiday left. Explore my reasoning with me if you will. First off the cost
of entry into it is low. $5 for candy. $20 for a costume maybe. What it
gives back is a lot more. You get in touch with your local community. AS we
wandered the streets of my sisters new neighborhood I was struck on how much
the older people really enjoyed seeing the children all dressed up. The
Smiles and waves from the people at the doors and the parents on the
streets. My sister has lived in her new home for 9 months now and has met
hardly any of the neighbors. This night we met 20 of them.
	With society more and more isolating the individual through violence
and fear shown from our TV screens I think Halloween is the last bastion of
societal commitment that a majority of the population enjoys. All other
holidays are invariably about the family, Christmas, thanksgiving, etc.
Halloween is the only holiday, heck even event, were we must mingle with our
group in order to participate. No matter how commercialized this day becomes
at the core it is still about the community and that will always be it's
saving grace IMHO.

Michael A. Turner
Systems Engineer WHRO
michael.turner at whro.org
http://www.whro.org