All Hallows' Eve

I've been invited to a Halloween party this coming weekend. This may not strike you as a big deal, but for me it is. Not only am I not a party person, I'm not a Halloween person either- though not entirely by my own fault. I was raised in a household where we were taught to treat the occasion with the utmost contempt and loathing. There is a number of reasons why my parents thought this way: the tradition is popular mainly in North America, and it hasn't really caught on as much in the cultural hodgepodge that is New Zealand; the event worldwide has become over-commercialised in the extreme and lost all sense significance; the competitive nature of costume competitions and gathering sweets promotes unhealthy rivalry; the last thing you really want is kids full of sugar running around outside at night; and on that note, it's actually rather dangerous to send kids out alone to get sweets from strangers- isn't that the one thing we teach kids not to do?


So I was raised to be a skeptic when it came to the end of October. My family has never really lived in a close-knit community and hardly anyone has ever come to our door, which is probably good for their sakes. Many a time has the speech been heard in my house detailing just what All Hallows' Eve actually is, its true significance and why all this modern embellishment is rubbish and denigrates the whole event. With this  in mind it is easy to see how I unwittingly became a non-Halloween person. I never felt like I was missing anything- it's not like I had friends to go out trick-or-treating with anyway, if we actually do that much here- and I had learned that smug sense of superiority from being too enlightened for such things, which is something I look back on with much shame. 

My attitude has changed gradually I suppose; I have begun to see parallels with Christmas and, rather than debase that spectacle, I have softened my views on Halloween. In the end, it's just a bit of thematic fun. Who cares if it's rooted in Celtic festivals and Christian commemorations of Saints? I don't condone the absolute excess with which some Americans go about the whole business; one-upmanship is a dangerous element in society, but we are luckily rather sheltered down here. However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with going to a Halloween party- nor should there be! After all, who doesn't like to dress up now and then? We do it for work, sport, cultural activities- why not have a bit of fun doing it for something light-hearted?

So this Saturday I will be going along to this party, hopefully in a costume which is a bit of fun but nothing too extreme. And yes, I know Saturday is actually the 30th, but I'm sure you'll agree there are plenty of good reasons why it should be on that night and not the next! Anyway it's very much like me to make a big deal out of this, but it really isn't. Still I couldn't help but share with you the unique situation I find myself in- this will be the first time I 'celebrate' Halloween, so to speak. I'm sure the party will be top notch, the host is one of the nicest people I have met in a long time- and also very fun! So watch this space and I might even tell you about how it goes!

Even the Dishwasher is getting into the spirit!!