This second COVID Hallowe’en is giving a few people pause about how much revelry they really want to include, and Etiquetteer is here to tell you that it’s Perfectly Proper and Absolutely Acceptable to turn down all those party invitations and just stay home if you prefer.
A reader reached out to share some hesitation about traveling to a Destination Famous for Seasonal Revelry this Hallowe’en weekend. “I’m trying not to be a Debbie Downer,” this message began, before expressing a lot of anxiety about overcrowded venues, lots of costume masks without COVID masks, and alcohol leading to poor choices. “I can’t bring myself to be OK with that.”
And do you know how Etiquetteer responded? “That’s not being Debbie Downer, that’s being Wendy Wise.” The pandemic is not over, and many people are just not ready to plunge back into Before Times Behavior. This is also an important reminder that there’s more than one way to observe a holiday. Hallowe’en with four people telling ghost stories and/or fortunes in a room lit only by candles is no less Perfectly Proper than a masked ball for hundreds. Don’t let the dreaded FOMO* Monster haunt your Hallowe’en! However you choose to spend it is absolutely right. Don’t feel lessened because your choice isn’t for something else.
If you are planning a more intimate at-home Hallowe’en, take the time to decorate. You don’t have to go full-on Mamie Eisenhower and stuff towers of cornstalks and skeletons in every corner and so on if that’s not your thing. But candlelight, besides throwing spooky shadows, makes everyone look more beautiful. And jack o’lanterns, plain old pumpkins, scatterings of candy corn, and the colors red, orange, and black, create a Perfectly Festive Atmosphere.
Etiquetteer wishes you a beautiful and Perfectly Proper Hallowe’en fighting off the FOMO Monster.
*Fear of Missing Out.