July 6, 2012
Dear Everyone:
Fireworks.
Can’t have a “Fourth of July” celebration without fireworks.
When we were little, bitty kids, living in
Castro
Valley, California, I have a vague memory of being in some neighbor’s
long driveway as they set off fireworks.
I believe their driveway was chosen because it was the largest in
the neighborhood. It was
also surrounded by trees, probably not such a great idea in retrospect.
Incendiary devices and combustible foliage; not a good
combination.
Then we moved to
Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Every summer there were fireworks, set off by the official
Fire
Department, from an island in the “middle” of the lake.
Incendiary devices, surrounded by fire-limiting water; much
better idea.
And we could see said fireworks without having to
drive all the way to the “official” park site.
All we had to do was go next door to our neighbor’s back yard.
It was higher on the hill than ours.
We tried watching from the roof of our house, but our Dad kind of
discouraged that sort of thing.
Not good for the roof, you see.
Also, there was the inherent danger of falling.
Each summer, in various establishments around
Lake Oswego, they set out large jars for people to donate money to pay
for the fireworks. They
certainly weren’t “free” and the Fire Department had better things to
spend their budget on.
Here in our “little” town of
San Ramon, they also
have a “tradition” of presenting a fireworks display, usually from the
“official” Central Park. If
you worked for the Company, you had the added advantage of being able to
park your car in the Company parking lot, a convenient couple of blocks
away, provided you produced the official badge.
Every year, they paid the Security staff overtime to let people
in and out of the grounds.
But not this year.
You see, the City of San Ramon never actually
paid for the fireworks. The
developers, the ones building all those subdivisions of new homes,
always paid for the fireworks.
Good advertising, don’t you know.
Come to town for the fireworks.
While you’re here, why not check out a couple of
Model Homes?
“Jeannie” and I love to visit Model Homes because they are always
decked out in the latest fashion in home décor.
How else would we have known one year that having a
porcelain
goose in your kitchen was an absolute must?
For those of you just returning from
Intergalactic Travel, the housing industry hasn’t been doing too well in
recent years. In fact, they
were sort of at the heart of the
last economic meltdown, although
predatory banking practices had more to do with it than housing; but
house values plummeted and so did the profits for the housing industry.
Which means:
No money for “frills” like fireworks.
Also, no more porcelain geese.
Mind you, there would be a free concert at
Central Park, just no fireworks.
I got a notice in the mail, announcing the free
concert and, by the way, no fireworks this year.
There were electronic signs by the side of the main road, leading
to and from the Central Park (and, incidentally, the Company facility),
alerting everyone that the concert was free and NO FIREWORKS DISPLAY.
The Company sent everyone an email, reminding them that it would
be OK to park at the facility and walk to the free concert, but that
there would be no fireworks display.
Message received and understood:
No fireworks this year.
OK by me.
I enjoyed having the day off and meeting “Jeannie” for lunch.
And I did not have to feel left out if I didn’t stay up late to
watch the fireworks (the highest ones would be visible from the parking
lot outside my condo.)
But not everyone pays attention.
“Babette” decided to take the day after
Independence Day off and announced that she planned to “come to the
office” to watch the fireworks, as she did every year.
“Didn’t you see the signs?”
(And notices, and emails, etc.)
Sure she did.
They all meant, “Don’t set off any fireworks yourself”, right?
I have no idea how many people showed up
Wednesday night and went away angry because they’ve “always” watched the
fireworks this way and “that’s the way we’ve always done it”.
“That’s the way we’ve always done it”, also known
as “tradition” can get people into more trouble than whole house full of
porcelain geese. And therein
hangs a tale.
Love, as always,
Pete
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