The Leaders exclaimed to the People: Our community is hurting!
The People resisted: But we love fireworks! It’s fun. What would a celebration be without firepower to light the sky?
The Leaders insisted: Too many people are getting injured, and in the past, homes have burned down. People have lost fingers and limbs.
No worries, we got ’em, the People responded. We’ll keep everyone safe.
Besides, we bought permits.
Not for illegal aerials being smuggled into the Land, the worried Leaders countered.
The People, undeterred, said: We love aerials! Have you seen how beautiful they are? We need to open the new year with a boom. It’s our custom.
The Merchants and Sellers were silent. They loved the huge profit$. Why would they want to stop making five times their investment?
So the People gathered around the New Year’s table: good-luck ahi and mochi, sushi galore, teriyaki beef, mac salad — all served with a deadly dose of fireworks.
Because this time People died — Real People: sisters and family, with many adults and keiki so badly burned that they’re in the fight for their lives. A Leader commandeered military transport to an Arizona burn unit since the Land lacked enough treatment centers.
Interviewed on TV, the People said defensively: We just wanted to have fun!
Fun is watching your son graduate from college, your daughter giving birth to your first grandchild. Fun is snagging your dream job. Fun is flying to Disneyland. Fun is your doctor giving you a clean bill of health after a cancer diagnosis. Fun is a national volleyball championship.
The deceased and their families have been robbed of this fun.
What happened at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2025, was gut-wrenching, definitely not fun.
Meanwhile, as a generous Land often does, People donated funds for medical care and family needs. The People responded with compassion, this being the Land of Aloha and Ohana after all.
The pressure is on Leaders to curb fireworks. They point to the extensive Reports listing all the obstacles. The People’s House, the Legislature, proposes passing and enforcing laws: interdict fireworks, increase surveillance at the ports, introduce penalties and step up enforcement.
Laws surely affect People’s behavior. Remember how People suffered great loss before changing their attitude about jail time for drunken driving and vehicular deaths? Remember how the civil rights struggle modied voting and voter registration? Remember how smoke-free restaurants and plane trips are now the norm?
But laws aren’t enough. People’s minds and hearts have to change.
Family by family, neighbor by neighbor, community by community — all of us, Leaders and Citizens, need to talk and share the pain. At home around the kitchen table, in church, at work and school, we need to discuss and agree:
Fireworks kill. They maim. They alter lives forever.
The People who died aren’t other folks. They’re us, our community. Our caring local culture cannot sacrice People’s lives for “fun.”
As Hawaii residents, we’re motivated in the new year to reflect deeply about the January 1st fireworks disaster and what it means to Live Aloha, Live Ohana.
Pau fireworks! It’s pono. It’s time to turn to Real Fun.
Joyce Torrey works as a reading and writing tutor.
