New Year’s explosions
By Liane Kaneko
are a family affairFIREWORKS are always in demand at New Year. From what I saw on the evening news recently, people are just going for it, charging up to $600 worth. The hundred-thousand rolls were gone within an hour after arriving at Daiei. People were buying four or five rolls at a time. Many people believe that lighting fireworks just before the New Year brings good luck. The smoke that rises from the ropes of burning firecrackers is said to scare the bad spirits and chase them away.
My family has celebrated New Year's Eve at my grandma's house every year since I was little. We'd start the festivities at our house first. When my sisters and I were younger we'd play with sparklers and morning glories. We'd watch all the neighborhood kids play with all the other stuff that we were too scared or not allowed to try, like the flower spinners.
At 10 o'clock, my dad would light up a long string of firecrackers to bring good luck to our house. Then we'd clean up and go to grandma's. That's where we had even more fun because my uncle would put on a show with fountains, pagodas and ground bloom flowers.
My grandma's neighbors got into the act, too. Around midnight, they'd all take turns lighting fireworks to make sure it wasn't done at the same time, therefore "interfering" with our good luck. They'd all applaud each another's fireworks and yell, "Happy New Year!"
While everyone played with the wild and noisy fireworks, my sisters and I would be in the background, just spelling our names in the air with morning glories.
Another thing we used to do at my grandma's house was to place pop pops, or those exploding white-paper wrapped poppers, on the road. We were sure that when a car ran over them the driver would think their tire had popped or something. Now that I'm a driver, I realize we didn't fool anyone.
There are other views about fireworks. Some people are allergic to smoke. Those with asthma can get sick from the smoke.
Fireworks are a dangerous way to have fun. They are not toys, although many who burn them don't seem to realize this. They make dares as to who can hold onto a lit firecracker longest, releasing it just before it explodes. They try to get the biggest bang possible by building bombs with the explosive powder. In the process, many suffer burns every year. In the worst cases, people have lost eyes and fingers.
As a result, almost every year there is some kind of outcry to ban fireworks, or there are more rules as to what kinds can be used. There are people who are annoyed by the noise or the idea that burning fireworks is the same as burning money.
Although fireworks do cost a lot and can be dangerous in the wrong hands, there's much more meaning to this tradition than lighting a fuse and watching a minor explosion.
I guess the whole New Year's Eve thing is meaningful to me because it's now part of my family's history. For most of my life my dad and his brother would light the fireworks most of the night, but my granddad had the task of lighting up the all-important midnight string. Since my granddad passed away, my dad and uncle have taken on the responsibility.
The warm feelings sparked by those memories continue to keep our family close at this time of year.
Liane Kaneko is a senior at Castle High School. Rant & Rave is a Tuesday Star-Bulletin feature
allowing those 12 to 22 to serve up fresh perspectives.
Speak up by fax at 523-8509; by answering machine at 525-8666;
snail mail at P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802;
or e-mail, features@starbulletin.com
