It seems like the words today “unemployment” and “recession” don’t seem to be scaring people away from holiday spirit. The Oct. 27 story “Ghastly economy doesn’t scare off Halloween spending” brought up the fact that “American consumers in 2011 will spend $6.9 billion on the holiday.” The fact that — during this economic crisis — people are spending more money on Halloween is a disappointment. This is not right.
There are more people out of work now than there were in 2005, “when Americans spent a mere $3.29 billion.” It does not make sense to spend money on a holiday that comes around once a year, where decorations come out of the attic for a month then back in they go for the next 11 months. The reality is that now, during 2011, there are more people living with the burden of low income. For families that are living paycheck to paycheck spending unneeded amounts of money on this holiday seems questionable. During a recession of this magnitude people should not be spending as much.
Justin Kelly
Vancouver
