Dear The Peak,

A problem has recently come to my attention that I feel compelled to bring up with your readership. As a respectable individual and a member in good-standing with the community, I am asking people to please stop commemorating Remembrance Day so early and wait until after Halloween has passed on October 31 to start remembering our country’s fallen veterans.

It feels like people are wearing poppies and attending memorial services earlier and earlier every year, taking away from the importance of Halloween. It’s downright disrespectful and it has to stop.

Just a few weeks ago, I was shopping in Walmart when I spotted a poppy box. A poppy box! In the middle of October! Have companies no decency anymore? What happened to honouring those who want free candy and are willing to spend all night — often in below-moderate temperatures — knocking on the doors of strangers, asking them for a “trick or treat?” Are we just going to ignore all of the parents who had to stay up late the night before, sacrificing hours of sleep to finish sewing a costume for their child who will simply outgrow it within a matter of months? By commemorating Remembrance Day too early, we are forgetting about our heroes of the present.

November 11 is an important day for remembering the fallen soldiers of World War I and the utmost respect should be given to our veterans on this day. However, this should not come at the cost of simply skipping over Halloween. I’m not alone on this one either: I’ve been reading more and more about  trick or treaters coming forward and asking the public to hold off on their poppy boxes until after Halloween, in reverence of free candy and ghost decorations. But I worry it’s not enough.

So the next time you contemplate donating your change and donning a poppy while it’s still October, I encourage you all to reconsider what Halloween represents and forgo commemorating Remembrance Day until after October 31 has passed. It will still be Remembrance Day after Halloween, so what’s the harm in waiting another week? You might think I’m old-fashioned, but I believe respect and tactfulness never go out of style.

Sincerely,
A concerned citizen