Dec 31: Shock And Awe

Well, it's a little easier for me to imagine what a war zone feels like after spending New Years Eve in Holland.

The previous day I went down with the family to a temporary store that was opened up inside a warehouse. The line to get in stretched all the way out through the parking lot. Above the door was a large sign that displayed the Dutch word for 'Fireworks'. As we stood in a line a guy came buy handing out a thick catalogue that showed all the different products we could blow up, some costing as much as 150 euros.

For the previous week I had heard random fireworks going off all over the city as young hooligans set them off from parks and such, and I thought this obssession was a little strange. But nothing quite prepared me for stepping outside just after midnight on New Year's eve.

Just to make this clear: not a single one of these fireworks are part of a civic display--they're all being set off by Dutch citizens standing in the streets.



At certain times, because there are big trees all over the town, someone would set up without checking above them and the firecrackers would bounch of tree branches into cars, houses, and front yards. I'm not exaggerating.

I saw one guy set up a tube, and then after he lit the fuse it fell over and launched the fireworks sideways, directly into his own yard. He started laughing.



By the way, most of the people setting this off have spent the night drinking beer and champagne. The next morning there are always a smattering of garbage cans and mail boxes that were blown up by a prankster. A few shops downtown who forget to tape them up have fireworks shot through the mail slots in the door.





Every year the newspapers have editorials decrying the danger and the amount of money spent and the damage to the environment that this little festive display engenders, but no politician has successfully bought in legislation to control it.

The Dutch love their fireworks.