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!!!
Yes DBQ, just rub it in! That sounds fantastic. Living the dream!
Hmm… interesting and riling at the same time. I don’t doubt it. We are also year-round grill people. (Put the spotlight on when dark, coat, umbrella if it’s raining). Jeez, I wish these people were just not so &#$@KN sensitive that they feel they have to mess with the entire nation to concern their bottom lines.
In the immortal words of Frederick Douglass , ‘Just leave us the f*ck alone!’. Paraphrased.
Steg, I heard an author interviewed on the radio several years ago. He had written a book about DST, it’s history and current situation. One of the things he found was lobbyists have a lot to do w/ changing the clock. One of the main lobbyist is the charcoal/grilling industry. They want it light later so people will cook out. I bet they are one of the reasons the “fall back” keeps getting later on the calendar. Me, I just turn on the porch light, get a flashlight, do whatever it takes to grill out. I grill out when it’s below zero. It used to be the clocks would always be turned back before Halloween.
We’re not a farming society anymore, and it doesn’t add more time to the day. All it does is mess with everyone.
I hate the time change. However……the beauty of being self employed is that we aren’t tied to a clock for work.
I get up when I feel like it….usually when the sun is just coming up over the mountains. Nap during the day if I feel like it. Go to bed whenever I want. I haven’t used an alarm clock at home in years and years. The time is immaterial….unless I have a doctor’s appointment or have a commitment, like my volunteer shift at the library.
We DVR most of our shows or stream through Netflix and Amazon, so the time schedule is meaningless.
🙂
Hey JT, or Darren, how about a post on DST? Can we all agree we hate it and it should be abolished? That all it really accomplishes is to f*ck with people so they have to readjust and can’t think straight? We’re not a farming society anymore, and it doesn’t add more time to the day. All it does is mess with everyone.
Now that we’re back on regular time, anyone know of any apps to block your smartphone from syncing? I find it severely unpleasant that I have to put up with this. I won’t care if everyone else changes their times, I want my clock to be set by me.
Paul – Yea I don’t really know the facts, just as a kid would always hear the ‘razor blades in candy apples’ stuff. I just did a google for ‘razor blades in halloween candy’ and this came up : http://www.ajc.com/news/news/national/trick-or-treater-finds-razor-blade-halloween-candy/npDLf/
All the results on page one were this story. So far nobody else has found a tainted candy, but the mom of the girl who found the blade said most parents (in their area) threw their kids candy out when they heard of this.
SO, take with a grain of salt, and wait a bit and we’ll see if it was real.
ALSO – to be snarky – Sugar has been found to be a problematic substance for children ;). At least they’re walking around earning those cavities. But if left untreated, could turn in to root canals! Is it really worth thousands of dollars in dental bills just to enjoy the freedom of Halloween?
We give out non-toxic glow sticks. You can theoretically eat them and be OK. I am kind of intrigued- but I’m not going to try. My dad said when he was a kid his dog ate a glow stick. It came out in the end.
For some reason, I did not realize last night was “turn back the clock night.” I noticed that my cell phone and computer were different than the wall clocks.
Nick – the nice thing about Arizona is that we don’t have to fiddle with the clocks twice a year. We just have to remember are we on Mountain Time or California Time. 🙂
Great game tonight. My Royals rallied in the 8th inning for a hard fought 5-3 win. They only need to win one more!