Will a $9 Billion Party Chase Away Our Blues?

     Welcome to our $9 billion party promising to lift us from the weariness of hurricanes and nuclear threats and a constipated Congress and wildfires. That’s how much the National Retail Federation projects we’ll dish out for Halloween this year, a record high. We’ll spend $3.4 billion for costumes; $2.7 billion for candy; $2.7 billion for decorations; and $0.4 billion for cards.

MONEY PIT
     We’re more than ready to set aside our melancholy by donning a Wonder Woman or Spider-Man costume and pretend to right the wrongs of the world. But will dishing out dough lift us from our national malaise?
     I don’t think so. Overspending may lead to even deeper depression. After all, the usual November and December spend-a-thons are just around the corner. Should I shove spending into high gear in October, crossing my fingers in hopes of a tax refund next April? I’ll pass.

CELEBRATE VIOLENCE?
     Besides the issue of overspending, will Halloween celebrations deliver us from the world’s woes? Not when we focus on the morbid. A newspaper cartoon by Joe Heller this year nailed it. A mother looks up from watching television coverage of the Las Vegas shooting to see her kids in costumes as an angel, a robot, and a smiley face. She asks why they aren’t dressing as demented, violent characters. One child answers, “Reality.”
     I’m with them. There’s enough macabre in the real world without honoring it. On TV I watched a young boy being made up with vampire makeup. I wondered what this did to the child’s psyche to be a star by wearing bruises and bloody gashes. Why would an adult make up a child like this? How can it be “just for fun?” (I doubt that a man I know will dress as the Grim Reaper when his son escaped the Las Vegas massacre but is left traumatized.)
 
WHAT DO WE NEED?
     Then how can we lift our spirits? Here's what I propose: Hallow Lean-simple celebrations to draw close to each other.  Laughing with friends. Bobbing apples. Carving pumpkins. Contemplating what we’re grateful for. Celebrating light, not darkness. Kindness, not violence. Beauty, not brutality.
     When we lavish goodness upon each other and our culture, we’ll be true super heroes.
     ***
​     The National Retail Federation projections are at https://nrf.com/resources/consumer-research-and-data/holiday-spending/halloween-headquarters