Yesterday I went to the store to get some Halloween candy.

[murielm99]

I always get the good chocolate kind. I don't usually get too many children. We live in the country, so most of them are just the few neighborhood kids who know me. They and their moms know I will invite them in and make a big fuss over their costumes. Also, I get to eat all the good candy that is left over after Halloween.

My youngest loved Halloween. It was her favorite holiday. She used to pick her costume carefully, and we would have fun putting it together.

So anyway, while the checkout guy rang up my purchases, I told him how much I looked forward to seeing the kids in their costumes. He told me that he hated Halloween.

When I asked him why, he told me that his mom was a pastor. She thought Halloween was a bad holiday, evil and pagan. He was not allowed to celebrate Halloween. I told him that All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day are Christian holidays. In my church, on the Sunday after November 1st, family members who have lost loved ones in the last year go to the front of the church where they light a candle and have special prayers for those recently departed. (I left out the pagan origins - hee hee hee).

He was very surprised to hear that. He asked me, suspiciously, if I was a Christian. I told him I was United Methodist.

He said that his mom made them turn out the lights and ignore the trick or treaters. One year, they handed out tiny Bibles, until a couple of kids threw them back at him and his mom.

I laughed. I asked him if he didn't think he and his mom were overreacting. I said that kids just wanted to have fun and get some candy. I told him that I was sorry he had not been allowed to have that kind of fun when he was little. He said he still hated Halloween.

The lady behind me was grinning and shaking her head. She said, "I'm just listening. I have no opinion."

However, she was buying Halloween candy. Outside, she laughed and said, "It takes all kinds."

[AsahinaKimi]

1. Intersting!

My dad hates Halloween because as is a dentist, and he does not want kids to ruin their teeth. He used to hand out tubes of sample tooth paste till my mother put a stop to it. She told him, he was ruining the spirit of Halloween. I used to have to hide my candy because he would always throw it away. Fortunately my mom would put some aside for me just in case he did, and give it to me later when He wasn't home.

[murielm99]

2. Awwww....

That's sad. I mean, once a year, what can it hurt?

He could have made sure you flossed and brushed extra carefully during that time.

[david13]

12. I always thought it was the dentists who invented Halloween, not

the pagans.
dc

[Zomby Woof]

3. On the other hand

You could have told your dad, "But it's great for business!" :D

[AsahinaKimi]

5. I tried that angle ..

He's more into savings kids teeth (prevention) then having them come in and sending them to the Orthodonist. He's pretty dedicated to the cause of tooth decay. This is why he lives in NY now and I live in San Francisco! I still get tooth paste sent to me for free at Halloween.. haha.

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. "Handed out tiny Bibles until a couple of kids threw them back"

LOL. Why not just hand out math books while they are at it. LOL.

[grace0418]

9. I would've preferred a math book.

That had to suck for those kids.

[HopeHoops]

11. No - math books are based on facts.

So this guy's mom protested a pagan tradition by handing out a book on mythology. Sure, that works!

[maryellen99]

6. I worked in a nursery school

and we had a co worker who took Halloween off for religious reasons.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. I was in a Walgreens the other day, walking through the aisle

where they have all the Halloween stuff, and there was a girl of about 12 or 13 with a younger boy, probably her brother, looking at the costumes and decorations. The girl was wearing a head scarf and a long skirt -- I'm pretty sure the kids were Somali, but it appeared from their speech that they were American-born. So they're looking at all this stuff, and the girl says to the little boy, "I sure wish *we* could celebrate Halloween."

[hippywife]

8. I work in a retirement center

with lots of fundies so we aren't allowed to celebrate Halloween there the way we'd like to. No decorations or costumes. But we are very liberal with the candy and did have a pumpkin decorating contest. We tend to get away with a little more every year. LOL

[charlie and algernon]

10. I used to work for a company that was run by fundies

So Halloween was definitely not mentioned or celebrated in any way. Christmas of course got a huge party and everything, though, lol. I think the people in my little department were the only liberals in the entire building. I would have great conversations ranting and raving about bush with this one co-worker, but we'd have to do it in hushed tones and be aware of who was around us, lol.

[nolabear]

15. Weren't you a little tempted to "dress up for Christmas"?

You know, a little "Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas," "I'm the Headless Magi," (magus, I guess really, eh?) "Meet my friend, Marley's Ghost" kind of Christmas celebration?

[david13]

13. Tell me where to find this guy. I will go over and put an evil spell

on him, and his house.
dc

[seemunkee]

14. My fundie boss has 10 kids

The contractor he hired has 5. Neither of them do Halloween. One temp we had working for us loved Halloween and when she found out how many kids they had and didn't celebrate she said: What a waste of children

[Arugula Latte]

17. Seriously. I'm always so glad I have children, but never more so at Halloween.

I frickin' LOVE that holiday! :loveya:

[Bertha Venation]

16. This is relavent to my interests and meets with my approval.

:7

[Gormy Cuss]

18. Hah!

I made a similar speech to a coworker once, explaining All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day, All Souls Day and leaving out the pagan ties.