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Caity Healy<\/strong> | Managing Editor <\/span><\/p>\n October is here, fall has officially begun, and with it, the celebrations and festivities that often come with it. Pumpkin spice is back in rotation at most coffee shops, those little Pillsbury sugar cookies with the ghosts and pumpkins poorly printed on them are back in stores \u2014 though, from my experience, they sell out in like, two seconds\u2026 so get \u2018em while you can \u2014 and Halloween decor is making its appearance. And, of course, the tweets and memes about \u201cbasic b*****s\u201d are making themselves comfy on our social media feeds once again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Look, I get it. A single leaf falls and suddenly these \u201cbasic witches\u201d (I changed the word so I don\u2019t have to keep using asterisks, but you know what I mean) seemingly show up out of nowhere, just crawling out of the sewers like they\u2019re Pennywise or something. A person steps on a perfectly crunchy leaf and the next thing you know they\u2019re wearing a sweater that says something like \u201cpumpkin spice and everything nice\u201d written in Rae Dunn font and probably covered in glitter. Before you know it, the basic witch invasion has begun. And it must be so incredibly hard to see several people post about Starbucks\u2019s new pumpkin spice cold brew and NOT say anything at all. So, so hard. But here\u2019s an idea: just\u2026 actually try not to?<\/span><\/p>\n It feels like we\u2019ve come to a point where we just can\u2019t let people enjoy the things they like. So someone chooses to put their Halloween decorations up before the official first day of fall (it\u2019s me, I\u2019m that someone), is that hurting anyone? Unless they\u2019re putting those decorations up in your space, then you don\u2019t really have a right to say anything at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So someone chooses to literally search for when pumpkin spice is back in rotation at their local Starbucks so they can order their drink the first day it\u2019s back (as you can probably guess, it\u2019s me, I\u2019m still talking about myself), does that have any effect on you whatsoever? If someone can genuinely tell me a way that it is creating a negative impact, short of buying into the commercial schemes that most of us are still guilty of buying into in some way or another, then I\u2019d genuinely like to know. Until then, what right do you have to make people feel bad about it? Because, while I do understand that it is a joke, I definitely still feel a little self conscious when I go to The Press and, under my breath, tell the barista that I want a grande PSL (if you abbreviate it, people in line behind you might not know what you mean. Pro tip).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To be clear, I\u2019m not advocating for the end of all criticism of things we consume. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. We should be critical of our consumption, and it\u2019s definitely okay to not like something or actively want to partake in it. But the difference between that constructive critical mindset and what is actually happening is that the former would involve a conversation about how we as a society can be better and would respectfully assert your opinion, and the latter is people recycling the same jokes, usually aimed at judging women, that truly just are not funny.<\/span><\/p>\n We see this trend all the time. \u201cYou\u2019re playing Christmas music before we even sat down for our totally unproblematic American holiday of Thanksgiving?! How dare you!\u201d The non-existent PNW snow melts and spring arrives.\u201cYou\u2019re actually wearing shorts when it\u2019s barely above 60 degrees outside?! Ridiculous!\u201d Or, of course, \u201cYou like Nirvana? Lol you probably just like their logo \u2014 name every single song on every album ever made. By Nirvana and every other band, too, while you\u2019re at it. Fake fan.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n All jokes aside, I really think everyone should make a conscious effort to just try and let people enjoy the little things. Life isn\u2019t easy. I don\u2019t know about everyone else, but college has been nothing short of a struggle for me. So if a festive beverage or a spooky shirt, or an occasional trip to Target\u2019s dollar section for a pair of pumpkin-covered socks makes me feel a little better, just let me have it. Let the basic witch in me live. Because in the end, it\u2019s not hurting anyone\u2026 except maybe my bank account. But we don\u2019t have to talk about that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n