By Arthur Vidro
By Arthur Vidro
Just two short months until Halloween. Or is it?
Halloween might not happen. Or if it does, it’s likely to differ from Halloweens past.
A month ago, Universal canceled Halloween Horror Nights at its U.S. theme parks. The company said it won’t be hosting the celebration of all things scary at its Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood, so it can “focus on operating its theme parks for daytime guests under pandemic restrictions.”
In other words, it’s far more difficult to scare park visitors in a haunted-house attraction while maintaining physical distancing. Universal doesn’t see how they can do so safely and at a profit. I don’t blame them.
Think back to Independence Day. Was there a celebration? To a small extent, yes, but very muted. Because crowds were discouraged from assembling, no large fireworks displays took place around here. Most of the nation wasn’t much different.
Might be that way come Halloween, too. Will Claremont (and other cities) have costumed gatherings? I wouldn’t count on a parade. But it’s the city’s call.
Is it safe for kids to cluster with other kids? Our nation’s Secretary of Education and her boss favor kids clustering with other kids in person in school, but many educators and parents believe classroom instruction is not sufficiently safe.
If kids wear costumes, will virus-limiting masks still be worn? Would kids be safe without such masks? Will they wear two masks – one for the costume, and one for the virus?
It can quickly get burdensome and confusing.
Halloween is not as crowd-massing as Independence Day – for instance, a kid can go trick-or-treating solo, without any adults or fellow children. Nothing wrong with that. But the majority seem addicted to the constant companionship of others and thus will forgo trotting around solo.
But even going by oneself is not a guarantee of safety in a COVID-19 infected nation.
As with so many activities, the final decision will be up to the parents. Some parents will forbid their kids from going out. Other parents will tell their kids to use both hands and grab as much as they can.
Parents, do you want your kids marching up to a stranger’s door and waiting for an adult to open it and bend over and toss goodies into a bag? These folks are at home, being interrupted by the doorbell; you can’t expect them to go running for a mask every time the doorbell rings.
I have been coughing daily for a few years now. What if, as I open the door, I have one of my coughing spasms? Frightened witches and goblins might panic and flee.
Now let’s look at it from the other end. If you’re at home, do you want to be opening your door to a bunch of strangers that, for all you know, are disease carriers even if they are asymptomatic?
Some adult homeowners will participate; some won’t.
In our household, we’re dubious about taking the risk. My breathing problems predate COVID-19, and I’m not going to risk worsening my condition. Nor does my wife want me subjected to the possibility, however remote, of danger.
It could affect more than people. Department stores, toy stores, big-box stores, and other companies have long acknowledged Christmas is the time of year they do the bulk of their sales; it’s their make-or-break season.
But for other companies, Halloween is the major event.
Tootsie Roll Industries tells its shareholders every year Halloween is its biggest season. If their Halloween sales go well, then full-year sales go well.
Take away Halloween and most costume shops won’t survive.
There will be clamoring for kids to get the candy they “deserve,” regardless of whether they have been good little kids or nasty little devils.
Some will wonder if it’s possible to set up a system to give them candy without a face-to-face encounter at strangers’ doors. I once tried this setup. One Halloween in the late 1990s, I took off around noon for a job assignment in the nearby big city which would keep me from home until past 7 p.m.
I left a well-stocked basket of goodies by my door, with a well-lit note clearly stating to take ONE please, and leave the others for those who would follow.
A neighbor, at my request, checked my stash before 4 p.m. Every morsel was gone.
Some greedy bugger had taken the whole darn lot.
So, yes, we could try something similar this year, but history likely would repeat itself and the spoils would all go to the first undisciplined or illiterate trick-or-treater.
Will there be Halloween?
Probably, but it will be a mere ghost of its usual self.
If you have consumerism questions, send them to Arthur Vidro in the care of this newspaper, which publishes his column every weekend.
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