A contradiction of traditions?

I don’t like costumes and masks. Or magicians. It’s all a summation of trickery, and I don’t like to be surprised or tricked. So why then are so many people in awe and admiration of these very same things?
We are long past Halloween, but it’s a holiday I don’t really like. But the most recent thoughts came to me when I saw a Chicago Tribune online collection of “bad Santa days.”
We teach our children not to go with strangers and then we plop them in the lap of a strange guy in a red suit with hair all over his face and down his chest and expect they will gleefully smile for the camera! Why?
Yes, I’m guilty as charged. At least once in my days of early motherhood, I plopped my oldest and first child, in jolly, old Santa’s lap. Fortunately, she looked at him in bewilderment and a photographer snapped a picture. We ordered a few copies, a good moneymaker for the store no-doubt; and promptly sent them off to the relatives as Christmas cards. At least one grandparent didn’t recognize this particular child and thought simply “cute card,” until Nana pointed out who was sitting there.
This year, however, I surfed through a collection of online photos of obviously terrorized children reaching out to be saved from the “jolly, old elf” as some unseen photographer snapped away. It’s one of those photos everyone will smile and chuckle over in future years. But is the damage already done?
Isn’t it akin to picking a stranger off the street, perhaps in a neat suit, and telling your child this is fun, sit down and smile for the camera?
I’m with the kid. I want to know who, or what, is behind that get-up, especially if the mustache or beard is slipping or the eyebrows are obviously taped on.
It’s the same at Halloween. Who is behind that mask? Do I know you? Or do I want to? I’ve had my share of greetings from masked goblins and “ghosts” wanting to prove they could trick me into passing out more candy, or in the case of some overly-adolescent adults looking for a free drink. It’s a great chuckle for the one behind the mask, but the discomfort laid on the target is more than I want to deal with.
I don’t want to be rude if this is a relative or friend thinking it’s a little fun. But in these days of strange strangers, I don’t want to be friendly and make a fool, or a target, of myself either.
It’s sad how life changes making us wary of previously innocent events. It’s even sadder that some parents will continue to insist the child comply in the case of sitting with Santa or the adult or child accept that Halloween is all in good fun…if in fact it is in every case. Regardless of the setting, it's a contradiction to common sense and childhood warnings.