Flagrant.
FLAGRANT!
The use of illegal aerial fireworks on New Year’s was so blatantly widespread, it’s clear nobody worried about getting busted even if it’s against the law.
Or, more accurately, “against the law” in quotes to denote the absurdity of such a designation, because it’s not like we’ve seen anyone go to prison for bringing in the stash that set fire to the neighbor’s roof.
There are videos on YouTube of people lovingly showing off their illegal trove of artillery and bragging about how much money they spent: “Over thousand dollars right here. Gotta pay to play.”
There are also videos of entire communities — Waipahu, Aiea, a slow pan of all of Central Maui — blanketed with explosions well after midnight on Jan. 1. Invariably, the person shooting the cellphone video isn’t ruefully condemning the fireworks. The off-screen comments are full of awe and delight.
We are so freaked out about terrorism, yet thousands of pounds of explosives made it into the islands by land or by sea. That’s a problem.
But ooh, those illegals are pretty in the night sky, and New Year’s in Hawaii isn’t the same without them, so grab a lawn chair and a beer and watch the neighbors show off their discretionary income.
Fireworks aren’t the problem. They’re a symptom of the problem.
Hawaii is becoming a place where laws don’t matter, an idiosyncratic outpost where blowhard lawmakers pass legislation for appearances’ sake with little concern for how the laws are to be enforced and no follow-up when they aren’t.
How many people still use their cellphones while driving? Not even sneaky-kind, like texting in their lap. No, people hold that thing up to their ears and yakety-yak with full animation and no inhibition. “Whatever. I’m important. I know how to drive with one hand.”
Setting up a house on public property and pooping in an alley is against the law, and if you or I did it, we might get in trouble, but in modern Hawaii, vagrants get a gentle heads-up notification days in advance of eviction and are asked to please, please consider free shelter space (“It’ll be great! Just try it!”). And even after that, enforcement actions have to be defended for being too mean and the stubborn folks just move to where they know they won’t be hassled by law enforcement.
Doesn’t anybody worry about being busted for anything anymore?
Which leads to the impending introduction of marijuana dispensaries in Hawaii. How confident are we that that’s going to be rigorously regulated, every law enforced to the letter?
Yeah, right. I can hear you giggling.
How about this: How about we go back to fireworks being legal? Nobody is following the law, which makes it a toothless, ridiculous law and sets the tone for flagrant disregard of all sorts of statutes. Besides, when people could buy the smaller fireworks at Longs, there were fewer stadium-style pyrotechnics going off in neighborhood cul-de-sacs.
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
