What has been your process through the years with not going out on weekends and also big holidays.

6 comments

1. I can’t remember making a point of doing anything for Halloween since my son was in about 4th grade. Prior to that, my wife and I would take him around trick-or-treating. As a single person – as opposed to family man – I don’t think I’ve made a point of going out for Halloween since about 7th grade myself.

   To me, Halloween has always been a holiday for kids. As an adult, I enjoy catering to the kids, but it has never been about anything more than seeing kids smile.

   I could make similar statements for virtually every other holiday. Holidays are about family to me. The one exception? New Year’s. That said, I don’t think I’ve gone anywhere for New Year’s since my mid-20s.

2. I went out rather often before becoming a dad. My wife (gf at the time) and I would always be at a restaurant somewhere just exploring food. We still somewhat do now but just takeout cuz we have 2 kids. Our outings used to start at 9pm in on our 20s but now had been changed to end by 6pm even on weekends lol. Big holidays like xmas would be pushed to 10pm at most but other than that, we might not even show up.

3. I used to be a touring musician, so maybe my perspective is a little skewed, but I never go out on the “amateur drunk” holidays unless I absolutely must, and I haven’t for a long, long time. Weekends hold no special appeal for me as a consumer—I’ve seen way too many of those places from the other side of a stage and rarely ever wanted to be part of the shit show happening on the floor.

4. it depends on the holiday.. I feel like a lot of it is simply propaganda.

   if you have kids, you kind of have to acknowledge them though, depending on the dynamic of your household.

5. I actually love Halloween and costumes (I cosplay some), but for various circumstances haven’t been able to get out there over the past few years. Or… the day of is a pain because I have work coming, so I did something on the weekend.

   Now, there’s a lot of holidays that suck, not just Halloween. I try to do something good for myself kinda adjacent to the holiday. I’m not a sweets guy, but I put up a ghost on the tree outside, put out a cauldron of candy, drank a pumpkin spice beer, and watched a horror movie. Missed a party and some cooler stuff going on, but it was nice enough.

   My parents fight a lot on Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I got used to that growing up. My dad was a pilot so it was more than normal that he had to work on the actual day of the holiday, and my parents were divorced and remarried eventually. Lots of experiences hanging out solo on days when everything is shut down.

   Same kinda thing… treat myself to a nice meal, walk around, engage other people who also might be distant from other things, whatever.

   Long story short, I try not to treat the holidays on anything too big I’m missing out on, but have a little fun, and hopefully enjoy the day off, which I didn’t always have.

6. I go out when I feel like it and am very happy at home with a show or game when I feel like it.

   I keep meaning to do something fun for Halloween but haven’t gotten mobilized around it since COVID. And that’s OK.

   I don’t like super crowded bars or waiting extra long for my dinner to get served because the restaurant is too busy. I’m happy to go out on quieter nights (Sunday to Wednesday) and have a more chill time Thu/Fri/Sat.

   Life is about what feels good at this stage. Not what people might think of me if I get seen somewhere.