Of Lighting A Firecracker on New Year’s Eve And Driving The Wrong Demons and Evil Spirits Away

“All is quiet on New Year's Day
A world in white gets underway
I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's Day
On New Year's Day…”

                     New Year’s Day, U2

    
       Just like that and Christmas is over and done with, disappointing a lot of people who want a longer Christmas celebration. It is not a secret that a lot of people are addicted not to the concept and message  of Christmas itself but the revelry that comes with it.  In fact, even those who don’t believe in Jesus are excited much with Christmas.

       But when I was younger (elementary years to more than a decade ago), I was more excited with the prospect of celebrating New Year than Christmas— because of firecrackers. New Year would still be hours away then but we’d already be busily and happily exploding powerful firecrackers—while drinking.  Yes, the danger in those twin activities always inexplicably escaped us during those times.

       Until one New Year’s eve, I stepped on what I thought was a dud firecracker to make sure it’s extinguished and—kaboom!—it exploded right underneath my right foot, ripping a hole through my thick and sturdy slippers, making my foot and leg completely (but not comfortably) numb. And I suddenly had an epiphany: What was I doing, wasting precious money and trying to waste my limbs and shatter my ear drums and fill my lungs with black smoke and pollute the environment? And for what? For trying to drive superstitious demons and evil spirits away? The demons and evil spirits weren’t in our neighborhood. Some of them were contentedly ensconced in different high-ranking government and elective offices,  scheming of wicked plans to steal more public money while the citizenry were lustily trying to literally burn the country with firecrackers and fireworks.

       After that incident, I stopped—cold turkey—my fascination with the firecrackers and never held one in my hand again. And I think, I quit just in time; the Philippine-made firecrackers of today are more powerful and dangerous, if one would explode right under your foot, the amputation the doctors would perform on you would most likely reach your scrotum. Imagine a life without a foot, a leg and a pair of balls.

       I have decided that I’d rather drive away my inner demons.

       Nowadays, I celebrate the dawning of every New Year by just drinking, eating, singing along to “It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve,”  and watching others waste money, and their aggressive attempts to severe their limbs with paputok and fill their lungs with black smoke in hopes of driving fictitious evil spirits away.

       Meanwhile, the real demons are out of the way, grinning while holding and sipping a glass of expensive wine, chanting “Auld Lang Syne” and thinking of ways to remain in power, and one of these evil spirits, I heard, lives and lords it over Makati City and is now planning of lording it over the whole country.

       We need more than just firecrackers to banish them.