October is always an interesting time of year. In preparation for the beginning of holiday activities, stores begin erecting displays for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas weeks in advance. And let’s not forget “Sweetest Day,” which is celebrated on October 15, mainly in the Midwest. All this of course comes on the heels of just celebrating “Talk Like a Pirate Day,” which evidently has become a national event.

Halloween, though, seems to have catapulted into second place behind Christmas as far as being an excuse for a buying frenzy. Children used to have a corner on the Halloween market, but now adults have taken the forefront, and you can bet that the weekend before this Halloween was filled with office and bar parties, and of course the usual home extravaganzas. Additionally, there seems to be no limit to the expense some people will incur to show up in that one-of-a-kind costume. A store in our community has costumes ranging from about $10 all the way up to $150.

 …