I hate New Year's Eve.
The fireworks (aerials & concussion blasts) have already been going off most of the month. You'll hear/see a couple dozen every evening before 10 PM. On the 31st the early birds will get started around 3 PM. By sundown the streets will be smoky and by 9 PM visibility will be down to about 100 feet. The "little" 5000-firecracker strings have been going off for hours by this point, but now people start bringing out the longer rolls-- I've heard that some of them are up to 100,000. They're hoisted by block & tackle to hang from streetlights, 15 feet above the crowd. By 11:30 PM the noise is absolutely amazing, as is the light show. At midnight it's totally deafening and will stay that way for about 30 minutes. Dante's vision of Hell.
Finally all the celebrants high-five each other and start sweeping up their messes. (A few sociopaths hold back some of their unexploded inventory to use the next evening.) If we're lucky the tradewinds will start blowing away the smoke by 2 AM and we'll be clear by sunrise. On a still, calm night it lasts until noon. The street trash is unbelievable, although "paperless" firecrackers are starting to make inroads. For people who claim to give a damn about the 'aina, their fireworks behavior is highly inconsistent with their sentiments.
I made a career out of blowing things up for fun & national policy, but I can't stand to spend the money on this-- let alone deal with the safety issues. The city "requires" a $25 permit to light firecrackers and Costco sells $200 fireworks kits that just fly off the shelves. Every year someone's caught caching tons of illegal aerials & "bombs" in their homes for sale on the black market. Theaters stay open late, advertising their air conditioning for those with respiratory problems. Hospitals & emergency crews load up on staff. Every firefighter on the island is on duty, and they'll probably make over 100 calls. Veterinarians hand out pet tranquilizers by the truckload. Every year some inebriated fool with a tank of welder's acetylene starts filling balloons, putting them in various containers, lighting them, and accidentally making shrapnel. Teens manage to damage property or hurt each other with M80s. Even little kids figure out how to immolate themselves with sparklers. Every year someone gets hurt, sometimes to the point of eye injuries or missing body parts. Hopefully it won't happen in our neighborhood.
Our daughter lights fireworks with the neighbors, who are reasonably restrained and careful. She's welcome to buy her own explosives but she usually opts to supply sparkling beverages & munchies. I'll be hunkered down with earplugs at the computer, on "safety watch" until she comes home a bit after midnight. Maybe I'll put up a "how much did you spend this year" post or work on other projects. By 2 AM I'll be trying to sleep, still with earplugs.
If we're really really lucky then it'll rain from 6 PM until after midnight. It's been raining nearly every day this month, so Murphy's Law will no doubt give us clear skies.
Mochi, kadomatsu, parties with neighbors & friends, other New Year's traditions-- no problem. Love it. Fireworks? I think they should be limited to public displays. But Hawaii has a century-old culture of setting off firecrackers. Legislating the practice, let alone enforcing it, seems impossible.
When we're empty nesters I think we'll investigate celebrating New Year's anywhere else.
B O R I N G, I guess...
