Good Monday Morning!
Did you trick or treat last night?
There was some public controversy this year centered around this preposterous notion that trick or treating should happen on SATURDAY the 30th rather than Sunday the 31st because Sunday is a School night.
The purists were OFFENDED. How could the “officials” make such a horrid decision? First “they” change the date for daylight savings times . . . then this?
The HORRORS!
I researched HALLOWEEN (Click the link for the rest of the story) and discovered that the 31st date is a “secular date” for All Hallows Eve . . . and that Halloween coincides closely with the celebration of All Saints Day which used to be in April (100’s of years ago) but was moved to be on the SUNDAY closest to November 1st – thereby making All Saints Eve (Halloween) the day before . . . so I could argue either side of the coin very effectively.
That’s the kind of confusion you get when you mix up secular and Religious and Pagan holidays . . . Secular wins in the USA because it’s easier . . . so . . . the 31st it shall be (unless it happens to fall on a Sunday).
Some folks say the marketers were behind this effort to create TWO nights of trick or treating . . . that this whole controversy was engineered to sell more candy.
Well, a good trick or treating strategist might game this system by knocking doors on BOTH nights. Some neighborhoods stayed with the 31st . . . others favored the 30th . . . it would only require a little research and networking to have 2 great nights of candy gathering . . . and the marketers get their payday . . . twice as much candy doled out . . . and maybe twice as much face paint etc.
There are other strategies to consider if you’re a trick or treater looking for the optimal load of booty.
Define the best neighborhoods.
Start early and plan to go late,
Use a BIG bag . . . Oversized pillow case is perfect. Bring a folding Baby carriage to carry the “Reserve Bag” where you empty your pillow case when it gets too heavy.
Hit the fringes – the less dense areas – first because there’s more walking to do, and those folks tend to have more interesting candy (the big score this year was a 2 foot long pixie stick).
Then head for the dense areas and put your head down and charge forward to hit EVERY house . . . beware running into people you know and wasting too much time talking.
Then?
Go back to the fringes where they probably have a lot of candy left and are likely ready to off-load as much as possible so they won’t be eating it themselves the next few weeks.
Oh yeah!
and the day after Halloween, head to the store and buy ALL of your decorations for next year . . . at 1/2 price.
Hope you had great fun this past weekend.
I’m just sayin’
Best,
b