ROCKWALL —
I’ve got support on this one.
She’s with me 100 percent and she has told me so.
Well, she hasn’t actually told me, but I can tell she’s really fearful of some of the Halloween decorations that people choose to place in their front yards.
I’m talking about decorations of the blood, guts and gore variety.
Oh, by the way, my companion who joins me with this objection to the focus on fear this time of year is Gracie, our Chaweenie.
We’re just now beginning to see some of these decorations find their way to front lawns, but already Gracie is getting that concerned expression on her snout. She will walk a little faster by the scary scenes, choosing even to skip sniffs at some of her favorite brick mailbox structures.
And then after we’ve passed the scary homes, she will keep looking back until we are a safe distance away.
I’m not the guy who is saying, “Down with Halloween.” I’m the guy who can honestly tell you though that I don’t support an observance that celebrates with a focus on ghosts, devils, witches, zombies — and fear.
There was a day, I believe, when Halloween was kid-friendly. For the families that chose to participate, it was fun to dress up the kids in costumes and take them around the neighborhood.
The most frightening moments back then were when they were greeted with an occasional, “Boo.” Everybody would laugh and the kids were on their way to the next home. No harm done.
I think some adults have literally scared Halloween out of a bunch of our kids. It’s not the kids who have done this. It’s the adults who are taking the fun out of this event by going to extremes with elaborate horror productions on their front lawns or porches.
I believe kids have enough things to fear in today’s world. As adults, let’s try to make them feel safe and secure instead of figuring out how we can make this monster bigger and bloodier and scarier.
I saw a display last year that went way far overboard in my conservative opinion. This particular yard was decorated with headstones. Yes, like the headstones at gravesites. The overboard part for me was that each headstone was personalized. Each headstone had a name on it.
Not so funny for an elderly person or someone who is battling a disease and is in a fight for their life. Not so funny for someone who is dealing with grief over the loss of a loved one — a child, perhaps.
All right, you’ve got my two cents. Maybe that’s all it’s worth to you. For me, though, I’ve given you my annual Halloween message and I feel better.
Now all I have to do is convince Gracie that Halloween will soon be gone, then in a few weeks we will have kinder and gentler greetings on our neighborhood walks from Santa, Rudolph, Frosty and maybe even baby Jesus.
Opinion
Voicing objections to blood, guts, gore
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