A Happy Halloween to all of the ghouls, ghosts, witches, or mere enablers on our blog! Tonight promises to be frenzy of trick or treaters in Virginia with great weather.
Our house is decked out for our evening arrivals. I love this holiday. Every year we add a couple of new items to the decorations.
Of course, the uninhibited aspect of the holiday is becoming a problem on some campuses. We have been following efforts to ban or deter costumes like American Indian outfits as culturally or racially offensive. Now various universities have started programs for students to call hot lines to check if their Halloween costumes are deemed offensive. State University of New York at Geneseo has posters that read “Unsure if your costume might be offensive? Don’t be afraid to ask questions.” Students are given the number for five costume advisors to avoid anything offensive. Other schools are following suit to deter costumes that could be viewed as insulting to any group or culture. Wesleyan University has six contact numbers and warns students not to select costumes that “mock cultural or religious symbols such as dreadlocks . . . ”
There is a concern that we are instilling a hyper-sensitivity among students who are prone to claim “micro-aggressions” and implied slights to their cultural or nationality or group identifications as we recently discussed.
Fortunately, there remains a far degree of spontaneity and tolerance when the kids that come by the house. We are ready with a truck load of candy. We still have one trick or treater of our own to walk tonight (which means that I can secretly search the Halloween loot for Reece’s Cups).
Have a great Halloween and try not to drive (or at least drive slowly) to avoid all of the kids running from house to house. Happy Halloween!!!
