In the classic musical, Fiddler on the Roof, one of the songs performed is “Tradition.” Different elements of the village relate how the traditions they have keep balance among the people and help guide everyone’s lives the way they should follow. “How to eat, how to sleep, even, how to wear clothes.” When Teyve speculates on how these traditions started, he says, “I’ll tell you - I don’t know. But it’s a tradition…”
How many traditions do we have, both in our own lives and in the wider world? You can probably tick off quite a few if you think about it. Way back in my first year filling this space, at this very time of year, I wrote about my family’s tradition of spending all of MEA break in the woods, cutting and hauling logs home for the woodburner in the house that helped keep us warm all winter. I hated that tradition in many ways, mainly because it ate up my days off from school.
With Halloween fast approaching, we know all about the traditions associated with that holiday. Dress the kids up, walk around the neighborhood, drive them other places, and spread out all the candy when you get home. Traditionally, Halloween is on October 31, but in recent years there has been a movement to change when Halloween occurs. Many parents (and teachers, honestly) would like it moved to the last Saturday in October. It gets to be a late night and the kids get all buzzed up on excitement and candy. School the next day is never a fun thing.
Oh no! cry the traditionalists. We can’t change that. It has to be on October 31! If you go way back in history, that date was when the dead were celebrated and costumes were worn to ward off any evil spirits haunting the people. That’s all evolved to cheap plastic masks and hordes of candy. Would moving the date be a good thing? Maybe. There are many schools that don’t even celebrate that holiday anymore for fear of offending someone.
Some traditions can be good. Your family very likely has specific things that are done for holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, Easter and the Fourth of July. You always have turkey/ham/prime rib or you always grill out and watch fireworks or you open presents at a particular time or you attend a certain church service, either in the evening or early in the morning. These are traditions that can be easy to continue without any complaints, largely because they are specific to your family.
Can you imagine if we said that everyone had to eat turkey on Thanksgiving? Or everyone had to attend early morning service on Easter? What about a specific time to open gifts or that watermelon was a must on the Fourth? There would be wailing and gnashing of teeth! Those traditions we really enjoy can’t be changed, can they?
And yet they are, subtly at times. You leave home, get married, and suddenly have to adjust to your in-laws’ traditions, which are guaranteed to be different from your own while growing up. Eventually, your own children leave home and find new traditions with their new families. So things change, and we grudgingly accept them, most of the time.
Some traditions, however, should probably be set aside. Homecoming has many traditions associated with it, from the royalty to spirit days to float building to the big game. There’s a lot of tomfoolery and skulduggery, but generally it’s mostly harmless. However, I got to experience one “tradition” of Homecoming this year that should probably be discontinued.
Having a member of the Homecoming court meant that our house was a target for students to “decorate.” Many years ago, this used simply to be throwing as much toilet paper as possible on roofs and trees. It was a signal to passers-by that royalty lived here and was a nod to the honor of that. It wasn’t harmful and was basically eco-friendly!
But kids are going too far. There is blatant vandalism going on and kids see Homecoming as a free pass to break the law. I got off fairly light compared to others, but all of us had garbage left in our yards, often items that were hard to get rid of like mower decks, large grills, and mattresses (some of which had been urinated on). Spray paint was used for some of this vandalism, cars were desecrated, and items were used that caused property damage. I still can’t get the Crisco off my driveway, but that’ll be taken care of over time.
I hear some people say, “But it’s a tradition! Let the kids have fun!” How fun is it for homeowners? You want to let your kid go out and do damage? Maybe you can come and clean it up the next day and pay for the work that some houses and vehicles need after that “fun.” The school stands by, with its hands tied, not able to do much since it’s not during school hours, but also not doing much to discourage it. Law enforcement would have a hard time justifying sitting outside candidates’ homes for overnight visits.
There are a lot of traditions which can be great. There are some that we can adjust over time to meet the desires of everyone who is part of it. And there are some that need to revert back to the way they used to be. As for Halloween? I can go either way, as long as I get some Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is esemplastic, which means having the capability of molding different ideas into unity, as in, “The mother showed an esemplastic ability to take all the Christmas traditions of her three adult children and make everyone happy.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!