Commentary -- Tony Dodero
ANAHEIM (Orange County Register) -- I'll never forget that first loud boom. It was one of those that makes your rib cage rattle and heart beat like a bass drum. "What the heck was that," I asked my wife. Then it went again in rapid succession, boom, boom, boom. "It's just the fireworks at Disneyland," she said, giving me one of her incredulous stares that basically says, "Are you kidding me?" Thus began a long-running debate in the Dodero household over whether the fireworks at Disneyland are just an extension of the Happiest Place on Earth, right over our heads, or the handiwork of wicked queens and evil stepsisters intent on depriving me of peace and quiet and smoke-free air. There seems to be no shortage of folks with opinions on pyrotechnics. Fireworks are good. Fireworks are bad. For the crowd that says fireworks are noisy, smoky annoyances, I'm with you my brothers and sisters, though I think we're in the minority. But to my wife and my two little daugh-ters, it's all just part of the magic. Now to be fair, my wife is no ordinary Disney neighbor. We had Mickey and Minnie Mouse statues on our wedding cake and Mickey Mouse ear-styled invitations. We have a Mickey talk-ing phone and light, and various kitchen utensils and refrigerator magnets shaped like Snow White, the Little Mermaid and Winnie the Pooh. My daughters wear Tigger and Cinderella pajamas. We live steps away from Main Street and she and the girls attend Disneyland much like some folks do nightly walks around Balboa Is-land. Let's just say my daughters are on a first-name basis with the It's a Small World ride operators. So while I grimace in agony as the nightly boom, boom, crackle, boom, boom goes off over our heads, my wife thinks we should be thankful to be getting a free dose of skyrockets at 9:30 every night. And it's not as if I detest fire-works in general. I used to look forward each year to the Fourth of July and attending a fireworks show at a local park or beach. A once a year celebration of our nation's independence was more than enough for me. So yeah, I understand the Newport Beach fireworks debate just about as well as anyone. And if the city is any-thing like the 3-1 pro-fireworks majority in the Dodero household, those who are on my side of the debate bet-ter hope they have a long fuse.
ANAHEIM (Orange County Register) -- I'll never forget that first loud boom. It was one of those that makes your rib cage rattle and heart beat like a bass drum. "What the heck was that," I asked my wife. Then it went again in rapid succession, boom, boom, boom. "It's just the fireworks at Disneyland," she said, giving me one of her incredulous stares that basically says, "Are you kidding me?" Thus began a long-running debate in the Dodero household over whether the fireworks at Disneyland are just an extension of the Happiest Place on Earth, right over our heads, or the handiwork of wicked queens and evil stepsisters intent on depriving me of peace and quiet and smoke-free air. There seems to be no shortage of folks with opinions on pyrotechnics. Fireworks are good. Fireworks are bad. For the crowd that says fireworks are noisy, smoky annoyances, I'm with you my brothers and sisters, though I think we're in the minority. But to my wife and my two little daugh-ters, it's all just part of the magic. Now to be fair, my wife is no ordinary Disney neighbor. We had Mickey and Minnie Mouse statues on our wedding cake and Mickey Mouse ear-styled invitations. We have a Mickey talk-ing phone and light, and various kitchen utensils and refrigerator magnets shaped like Snow White, the Little Mermaid and Winnie the Pooh. My daughters wear Tigger and Cinderella pajamas. We live steps away from Main Street and she and the girls attend Disneyland much like some folks do nightly walks around Balboa Is-land. Let's just say my daughters are on a first-name basis with the It's a Small World ride operators. So while I grimace in agony as the nightly boom, boom, crackle, boom, boom goes off over our heads, my wife thinks we should be thankful to be getting a free dose of skyrockets at 9:30 every night. And it's not as if I detest fire-works in general. I used to look forward each year to the Fourth of July and attending a fireworks show at a local park or beach. A once a year celebration of our nation's independence was more than enough for me. So yeah, I understand the Newport Beach fireworks debate just about as well as anyone. And if the city is any-thing like the 3-1 pro-fireworks majority in the Dodero household, those who are on my side of the debate bet-ter hope they have a long fuse.
