Not that I am all that upset about it, but why are some local government officials in North Carolina intruding in one of the most basic, private, personal decisions a family can make?

When to go trick-or-treating.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that a number of smaller cities and towns have been urging folks to move Halloween from Oct. 31, a Sunday night, to the previous day. The reason I?m not really all that upset is that the requests don?t have and can?t have the force of law. But still, don?t these officials have better things to do?

If religious conviction leads some families not to do Halloween on a Sunday night, that?s fine. Indeed, many religious families don?t do trick-or-treating at all, preferring to go to ?Fall Festivals? held at churches across North Carolina and the nation. Kids dress up, though not in scary costumes, and there is plenty of fun and candy.

My guess is that people are perfectly capable of figuring this out for themselves. Word will spread if some families want to do the door-to-door thing on Saturday night instead of Sunday, and so candy will be available. If churches don?t want to intrude on Sunday services and hold their festivals the previous day, I?m sure folks will find out.

Please fill potholes, arrest criminals, and rigorously enforce zoning ordinances. OK, scratch that last one. Please do not presume to shove Halloween around. The Little Conqueror and the Little General will get wind of that and think we?re going trick-or-treating twice!