Unaffected Halloween

My 8-year-old decided to dress up as Bat Girl this year.

And I remind myself to get ample supplies of candies for Halloween.

Something doesn’t change, despite the ups and downs of the global economy (Toys R Us has plans to expand seasonal hiring) e.g.

autumn foliage, kids’ innocence and holiday jingles. It’s still “a wonderful life”.

I learned about death toll rising in Vietnam due to flooding, and in Haiti due to cholera.

So, I did not feel too bad when getting cut off in line by a Haitian man at the post office.

He probably needed something urgent with his mail box. I spared myself an unneeded fight and stress (I had waited for a good 20 minutes up to that point).

When it’s our time to go (die), we won’t need to wait for our turn. It will just happen, to both rich and poor, perfect FICO or so so.

My first Halloween costume was that of a scarecrow.

All I had to do was dressing up and standing still with arms outstretched.

Halloween brings out the kids in us.

It’s fun to exercise empathy, to take on another persona.

Those who lack empathy lack social skills.

Covey illustrated this point by telling a story which took place on a train ride.

Two kids were really annoying, and the author was almost to the point of saying something to the supervisory adult who did not say a word to quiet them down. Then, a revelation that their father had just died caused the author to empathize with those two brand-new orphans.  In short, he reacted differently due to this newly acquired emotional context. (what can I do to help).

I could have reacted this morning (stimuli-response) with a “hey buddy, get in line like everyone else”. But I imagined he owed me one, and that he perhaps needed something urgent at someone else’s expense. I wished him luck if he continued cutting in line (there were 6 people behind me as well). He might be in for a surprise (that people come with a different level of tolerance).

Back to Halloween. I hope my kid grow up in a good society where she can knock on neighbor’s door on Halloween or to sell cookies for school.

We need to chip in to make this kind of society happen.

It does take a village to raise a child.

And to cut in line or put razors in chocolate candies to spoil Halloween are not cool.

We made through our childhood and now it’s our turn to make sure our kids get through theirs. Especially on Halloween.

It’s fun to be in costume for a change. Maybe you will like it. Just make sure you don’t dress up like a banker. People still don’t warm up to that profession that easily, especially when you see signs of foreclosure on their lawns. Happy Halloween!