It's NOT very "happy" when there are those that are firing off illegal ground and arial fireworks at midnight and people are trying to sleep.
And, a Happy 4th to you too @Sam Calabria as well as everyone else on this forum!! So far as fireworks go, I do not like them either but not for the reason you mentioned @Cody Fousnaugh. For one, the type of fireworks used sometimes brings up memories I’d rather forget but aside from that, the potential fire hazard from a wayward rocket does disturb me somewhat. Still, I’m not going to allow my feelings of fireworks stop me from enjoying the day and thinking about what the 4th really stands for and how that date in 1776 has affected every generation that has called the United States their nation and home since then. What is kinda crazy is that my neighbors from South America want to celebrate the 4th too and asked me permission yesterday to use fireworks on the 4th. Now, whether they are truly celebrating freedom or just want to play with things that go bang is up for debate just as it is for U.S. born citizens who use fireworks but still, all I told them was that it’s illegal within the city limits but if they still wanted to fire ‘em up, go ahead…..celebrate!! Oh, and Cody, you can’t tell me that you haven’t been guilty of bugging other people with a few firecrackers (or more) in your day. A’nd…..even if you haven’t, you’re over 70 years old so you should be used to dealing with all the hoopla that has happened EVERY year on the same date throughout your entire life. Put some ear plugs in if it bothers you so much at bedtime but whatever you do, just deal with it. Do note: Sometimes @Cody Fousnaugh, I really think you complain just to get a rise outta folks.
It's once a year. There was someone on NextDoor whining about the same thing, and I told them that it could be worse...it could be stray dogs shooting them off. Just gel. And the word "illegal" is an offensive thing to hear on this day of the year. One year I ordered stuff from Illinois, where their rules are more lax. But I don't shoot stuff off late at night.
Well, it's more than "once a year"! Try New Years Eve. Plenty of ground "bangs" and arial "bangs" on that night as well. Had that in Jacksonville, Florida when we lived there and have it here now. And, even with signs saying "Fines For Illegal Fireworks", people just don't care. And then, there are those that will fire off a rifle or handgun into the air. I've heard about people getting hit, in the head, shoulder or where ever with a bullet coming down. And, there are plenty of people that get annoyed with illegal fireworks being done and their dogs be scared to death. As far as my/our participation in illegal fireworks...................have never done them. Really! Have bought/used Fountains in a driveway, but that's it.
This is supposed to be a celebration thread, @Cody Fousnaugh , which is to wish each other a happy Independence Day.. Maybe put your complaints in one of the complaint or rant threads instead of in this one, please ?
When I was a kid we somehow got hold of some "Black Cat" firecrackers over the 4th. Those were the little tiny ones all strung together so you would light the fuse and 50 of them would go off, like you see at Chinese New Year parades. We unstrung them to light them one at a time to make them last. Well, it was getting dark and we had a pile of single firecrackers we wanted to get rid of. So my two younger brothers, my older brother and I sat on a picnic bench seeing how may we could light off of a single match, throwing them rapid-fire back over our shoulders just to get rid of them. We did not hear the cop car pull in the driveway behind us, nor did we know the cop had walked up and we were chucking firecrackers at him. My older brother was the only one over 18, and he got charged. He was in the Army Band, and played herald trumpet at the red carpet for dignitaries foreign & domestic as they deplaned. That incident almost cost him his clearance.
My children used to go to South Carolina and buy a trunk load of fireworks. My backyard became fireworks central at July 4th. and New Years Eve. They never worried about the law because they were out there watching, too. They sometimes took one of those big ones, lit them, and dropped them down a four-foot galvanized pipe. It sounded like a stick of dynamite.
Yep. Probably the most well-known tourist trap in several states. My son went there last spring and brought me a huge fly swatter. I mean huge! It has South of the Border on it. I don't know what on Earth he thinks I'm going to do with it.
Uh, swat huge flies? I can't remember the last time I was at that place. It may have been in the 60s. I kinda sorta remember picking through the combustibles. I just read that it opened in 1950. For the uninitiated, they sell fireworks of all types all year long...even the good stuff. Repeat after me: We don' need no stinkin' sparklers.
In another 3 years, it will be America's semiquincentennial. As far as forms of government go, that's quite a stretch.