The Killing of Halloween

8/3/2019 The Killing of Halloween

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The Killing o Halloween

Halloween Refections

AsHalloweenapproachesIcanthelpbutreectonsome

of

the changes my generation has seen. I remember asa child dressing up in a costume for school, partiesand of course Halloween night to trick-or-treat formy stash of chocolate, candied apples and candycorn. Back then (in prehistoric days as my childrencall them) the better the costume, the more candyended up in my bag. Ahhh these were good me-mories.

Over the decades this has changed some as childrengoing from house-to-house is slowly being replacedby shopping mall and church trick-or-treating asa result of perceived safety concerns. In addition,amusement parks such as Busch Gardens and Uni-versal Studios now have month long events withspecial effects that few households can match.

Halloween is the United States second largestcommercial holiday, spending approximately$6.9 billion a year.

Source: Halloween.org

History tells us that when a holiday is commercia-lized there is a tendency to forget its origins. The

question is, will the trend continue resulting intrick-or-treating becoming a lost art or will societyremember that Halloween is a 2,000 year old tra-dition celebrating harvest time that is just meantto be fun?

The Lost Art o Trick-or-Treating

Trick-or-treating has its origins back to the Gaelicfestival of Samhain (pronounced sow un) when itwas believed that faeries roamed the land dressed

as beggars asking for food door-to-door. Those thatgave food to the faeries were rewarded and thosethat did not were punished. This set the stage forboth the rst costumes and the tradition of goingdoor-to-door for food.

Over time, religious beliefs, particularly those setforth by Christianity adjusted the celebration byadults to include children, sweet pastries, ale and

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money. Costumes also evolved from ghouls to devilsand witches to the modern day of virtually any kindof disguise. You can read a more complete listing ofHalloween traditions at halloween.org.

Jumping back to the modern era, the term trick-or-treat refers to the idea that if a child comes to yourdoor asking for a treat that if you do not provide one,a trick (property mischief) will occur. Although the

mischief rarely occurs (except by teens) the conceptfor children remains give me candy or be considereda bad person. Yes, this is an early form of extortionbut no different than the concept of being nice toreceive a Christmas present.

The trick part of trick or treat is a threatto play a trick on the homeowner or his pro-perty if no treat is given. Trick-or-treating isone of the main traditions of Halloween. Ithas become socially expected that if one lives

in a neighborhood with children one shouldpurchase treats in preparation for trick-or-treaters.

Source: Halloweenhistory.org

In my opinion, when trick-or-treating is limited tocandy collection at shopping malls, church eventsor other community facilities, tradition is lost andHalloween becomes nothing more than a commer-cial holiday to spark candy, costume and theme parksales.

The Maintenance Tie-in

As Halloween commercialization increases so doesthe need to make sure amusement parks, malls,churches and local civic facilities have preparedtheir venue so that children are safe. One way to dothis is to make use ofCMMS inspection checklist toensure safety and limit liability for assets such as:

Top 10 Halloween Facility Inspection

Checklist Items

1. Doors: Halloween costumes often limitvision or have clothing accessories that canget caught in doors or cause a child to beinjured.

2. Emergency exits: Every year there seemsto be a fatal re where it is later found thatthe emergency exits were locked or did notwork.

3. Parking lots: Parking lots should be welllighted and kept clean of debris as well as bemonitored for costumed thieves.

4. Common areas: This would include indoorand outdoor congregation points to be chec-ked wet oors, worn carpeting, benchesor anything else that could pose a threat ofinjury.

5. Railings: Loose railings should be identiedand secured.

6. Amusement park attractions: (see CMMS forAmusement Parks)

7. Lighting: Halloween frights are based upondarkness but all safety lighting should be inworking order.

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8. Restrooms: This one is self-explanatory9. Fire extinguishers: Inspect all re extin-

guisher and safety equipment.10. Safety hazards: All venues should be

inspected for safety hazards especially forfacilities that do not usually handle manychildren.

The key to Halloween maintenance is rst inspec-

ting assets to make sure they are not broken or area safety hazard and second, to perform preventivemaintenance on asset identied as a problem orpotential problem. A CMMS solution gives facilitymanagers the tools they need to prepare for Hal-loween quickly and ensure the safety of visitors.

Share with us your halloween trick-or-treat stories.We wish everyone a safe and treat lled Halloween.

CMMS, facilities management, maintenance ma-

nagement

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Other Articles Written by stuart smith

Stuart Smith is Minteks InBound Marketing Specia-list. He works hard at creating compelling content tokeep Minteks customers and prospects entertainedwith relevant information.

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The Killing of Halloween