Editor’s note: this is a post about American Independence Day celebrations
existentialmemes
Alright, I’m going to launch explosives around your house. For several hours. Yes it is dangerous and terrible for wildlife and the environment. And yes your pets will get sick from eating the debris and you will feel terrorized inside your own home.
No you can’t opt out of it. Everyone is doing it and frankly it’s weird that you don’t want to.
No you can’t be the one launching the explosives you need a license for that. You can however launch these marginally smaller ones though. Yeah just whenever you want. 2am sounds great.
So anyway, fireworks were a mistake and it’s never too early to start reminding you of that.
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Counterpoint
Playing with fire and blowing things up is fun if done responsibly. Really, given the kinds of annoyances that are legal year-round (drunkards, loud exhausts, barking dogs, late-night parties, yelling loudly etc.), it really isn’t that bad to have fire & explosions once per year for like… two hours. (Reiterating, responsibly)
I don’t know about The North Americas, but in AU all of those things you listed are illegal here. Except the loud exhaust. You have to really piss someone off to get reported, but if your dog barks every night you’ll get a knock on the door with a mandatory dog training leaflet. Disruptive parties at night are tolerated occasionally by neighbours, but if it happens every Friday for 6 hours you might get told to turn it down by police. Same with belligerent or disorderly behaviour. I think the law is don’t wake people up between 7pm–7am mon–sat. But also the police here won’t attack you, so it’s more annoying than dangerous for the recipient.
Do you guys have noise disruption laws like this? Genuinely curious.
We do, but it takes more than fireworks.
Yeah fireworks are allowed here too, but only when you would “expect” fireworks if that makes sense. “Firework displays and community events” are exempt. I think it’s pretty common sense whether something’s ok or not though. Like randomly popping off fireworks every night at 2am would get shut down. Definitely an entire month of fireworks is insanity. But I hear fireworks every major holiday like Easter, Christmas, new year’s, Chinese New year, etc. The dogs, cats, birds, possums, everything goes mad like there’s a bush fire.
it was nice for a few years. i’m not sure whether it was better enforcement or mass trauma after the town nearly burned down, but all the nighttime fireworks just didn’t happen for a couple years.
Many regions in America do have those kinds of laws, but the cops are too busy shooting our dogs and pulling over minorities to enforce them
two hours
if the idiots would actually do that, it wouldn’t be a problem. instead it’s a two week window of booms and flaming bullshit DURING A HEATWAVE IN WILDFIRE SEASON.
how fucking dumb do they have to be, that this needs to be explained?
Where I am from, civilian fireworks are pretty much happening only during NYE. It is roughly 2 hours. The rest of the year fireworks are pretty much happening on some special shows or celebrations. You almost never hear fireworks the rest of the year.
Where I live now people like to shoot fireworks at random. I used to live near private small garden area and fireworks would fire on weekly basis all year long. It is even forbidden to do it at random, but that is not stopping people for some reason.
Wanted to add also that in my homeland fireworks are sold typically in hunting shops and I guess are strictly regulated while at the country I am at right now you can buy loads if fireworks in a grocery store if some sort of a festive celebration is around the corner.
Where I am from, civilian fireworks are pretty much happening only during NYE. It is roughly 2 hours. The rest of the year fireworks are pretty much happening on some special shows or celebrations. You almost never hear fireworks the rest of the year.
oof sounds lovely.
Where I live now people like to shoot fireworks at random. I used to live near private small garden area and fireworks would fire on weekly basis all year long. It is even forbidden to do it at random, but that is not stopping people for some reason.
in past years it’s been like this. I think that they tightened some of the sales because the world cup is in town, but we still have mortars and other shit going off two weeks before the 4th :|
there’s too few consequences for irresponsible assholes.
I love fireworks! I like going to the big displays, I like hearing neighbors setting them off in the distance. It reminds us that even thought things kinda suck now, we can still have some fun.
This country has turned so rigid, it is so disappointing. No loud music, no firewoeks, no dance clubs, no outward displays of anything. Just go home buy stuff online and watch your screens quietly.
One night a year… Heh. It’s been going on for a month already at my sisters’ place
It depends on enforcement. Where I live it’s pretty strictly enforced. I do wish the big fireworks show was on the edge of town rather than in the middle of it but I still want the show. Just as responsibly as possible.
Where do you live where it’s only two hours?!?
Large town in Sweden. I’d say 95% is within the legal time span in our neighborhood and from what I’ve seen elsewhere it’s fairly similar.
This is excepting no-go zones & rougher neighborhoods, but in some of these areas they literally attack first responders with fireworks so I’m not counting them.
Okay then let’s do it only in winter when it gets dark early enough.
For some reason all the holidays happen when the day is long except new years which for has fireworks happening at midnight.
The laws are not made to minimize the downsides.
Agreed, but it is interesting to hear about its impact on the environment. Obviously it spooks pets and livestock. But what is it doing to the local flora and fauna? In some situations it probably kills birds through constant stress. And what about trees that are normally used to peace and quiet? They’re probably deaf now.
Oh honey. You think it’s for 2 hours? It’s roughly once an hour from the middle of June to the middle of July
I love this time of year. It drowns out the sound of gunfire.
fr, oh to live such a privileged life that the worst noise pollution you have to deal with is fireworks a couple of times per year.
Where do you live? That’s excessive.
Worst I’ve seen in rural Michigan, is occasional fireworks the week before and after the 4th.
Now that I’m in the suburbs? Maybe a day before and after. Eh, could be worse.
Kansas baby, deep red territory. It sucks here lmao
Doesn’t have to be deep red. Sacramento is fairly purple and they’ve been at it too. Same as every year.
Well, that’s how it is in my country, and mostly respected outside no-go zones :)
Slightly different per municipality, but in general it’s permitted 23-01 around the new year. Outside that, you need to apply to the police for permission.
Especially barking dogs.
All of whose owners, who let them bark 24/7 the other 364 days a year, go into full meltdown mode on social media over their poor pupper’s right to be catered to every 4th of July.
I like fireworks. I don’t like when people continue to set them off at odd hours weeks after the 4th.
I think complaining about fireworks on a day of celebration is some grumpy old NIMBY shit.
I agree. There’s a time and place. It’s the 4th, and maybe new years
Honest question: What the fuck do American’s have to celebrate?
Not being British. It’s all we got left
Yo mama
Yeah caring about the environment is nimbyism…
You ever taken a look at your local level politics? It’s mostly NIMBYs trying to use environmental law not to protect the environment, but to protect their property value and keep out “undesirables.”
They’re also trying to shut down night clubs, roadblock any method of transportation that isn’t car-oriented, enact curfews, and generally just suck all the joy out of life like these no-fireworks having fun police.
The primary perpetrators of environmental law in my city are people who genuinely care about it.
Fire works are not the same as the other things you have listed(well, not the car part); as they do actually have a substantiable effect on the environment and local air quality.
My argument is what the fuck are you celebrating? Did you get enough of your freedums this year?
As a white property owning male it’s my day of freedom 🦅🦅🦅
Okay, now say that about literally any holiday aside from the one you personally dislike and see how it holds up.
Halloween. Celebrating recruitment into the skeleton army. Duh? What an insane take. My valid criticisms are invalid since other holidays exist.
You used a bullshit apples to oranges comparison for your bullshit criticism. You didn’t say New Years or Juneteenth, actual fireworks holidays, because it highlights how stupid your “get over it” argument is.
I’m just going to chalk this up to either you misreading, misunderstanding, or just being a fucking idiot.
My argument is what the fuck are you celebrating? Did you get enough of your freedums this year?
I really have no idea what you were saying then. Are you saying people shouldn’t celebrate the 4th because a rapist is currently in charge? Or that doing it every year ad infinitum is too much?
Either way I stand by what I said. Let people have their fireworks and stop being a grumpy old fuck about it.
Sure buddy.
Heh, I live in a racially mixed neighborhood where the Mexicans help the rest of the us find the “good stuff”. I have been in an actual war zone but my neighborhood is at WW1 level amounts of black powder and badly made improvised explosives with copper, magnesium, and titanium sprinkled in for seasoning. Last year there were teenagers with eight inch mortars which I cannot convey how insanely illegal those are.
Kind of amazing we haven’t set the neighborhood or even a single house on fire now that I think about it.
Not so much illegal as commercial. For professional use only.
PSA do not mess with additives other than Titanium for salutes. Ideally do not mess with improvised explosives at all but if you really are hell-bent on upping the noise, a string-bound blackpowder maroon is the way to go. Hello interpol my old friend.
The real way to get on the list is to give advice on how to acquire salt peter or acquiring in bulk precursors like ammonium nitrate (or is it nitrite, not going to look that up)
I love fireworks shows done responsibly, our local show is on a beach away from most of civilization and wild life.
That said I think a drone show is cooler, better for the environment, and would love to see densely populated towns replace them with drones.
On a beach… Away from wild life? What?
No you don’t understand, they simply moved outside of the environment.
A wave? In the OCEAN? Chance in a million.
Beaches around here are out in the open with a treeline that isn’t close to shore, most animals aren’t going to be around due to the threat of predators, with the exceptions of insects.
The area is similar to Peggy’s Cove in Nova Scotia, though not as far removed from everything and on a lake, rather than on an ocean.
Yeah, I would never expect wildlife to be around a lake, probably no impact at all
Blowing up drones is cooler than blowing up fireworks depending on the drone
We used to hide in the basement with our pup and watch a movie. She could still hear the fireworks, but it seemed to take the edge off.
Current pup has gone deaf in his old age. Before then, he’d growl and bark at both thunder and fireworks. Now he just sleeps through it.
have a hound that couldn’t give two fucks about the cacophony. also have a staffie that will try to dig through the linoleum in the basement trying to get away from the cacophony. fucking bullshit rah rah patriotism, and some poor kid is gonna get third degree burns or lose most of a hand, whoopee 'merika
Fireworks are generally not allowed near airports, so getting a room at an airport hotel might be a good way to g give you and your pup some peace and quiet. Just a tip.
haha I live miles from Boeing field and SeaTac. Nope.
Fireworks apparently cancelled at SeaTac?
https://jetmagazine.co.uk/seatac-fourth-of-july-celebrations-canceled-what-happened/
I’m a lot less irritated by the pro displays because they happen on the holiday.
It’s the endless boom of assholes setting off mortars that shake the windows for weeks before and weeks after.
14th of July is the day in France for fireworks, there’s the fireworks set by the city for 30min and after that everyone goes back home, dont have people setting them off all night 🤷
Celebrating america’s freedom by triggering all of our traumatized veterans with inescapable rapid-fire explosions for three weeks straight!
Who the fuck even thought of this?
It makes more sense when you realize that Americans don’t actually give a shit about their veterans, they just like virtue signalling like they do. The VA would be in much better shape if they actually cared.
Oh, trust me, I know. Especially republicans…
Who the fuck even thought of this?
No one has ever accused Americans of being smart.
This is america, everyone here either doesn’t care about or actively hates our own veterans. You got the right (red) who only likes them while they’re overseas killing middle easterners, you got the right (blue) who doesn’t think about them at all, and you have the left who think we’re the villains in every armed conflict since WWII (“Kuwait? What’s that?”)
Caring about veterans makes you a tiny minority in this country
Usually agreed, but July 5th I’ll be shopping for some discounted boomies.
They will be on stand by to celebrate a long overdue deposition when the day finally fucking comes.
What if it happens on the 4th? America 250 indeed.
Fireworks start early then I guess
Then we’ll all celebrate together.
This sounds like a grumpy old man ranting about “kids these days” lol let people have their fun.
Let people have their peace and quiet.
How often do you get disturbed by fireworks?
I usually only hear them at halloween or at new years eve
In my area it’s multiple days before and after most holidays, at times ranging from 6pm to 2am. Hell, this past year someone set off fireworks at midnight Christmas eve.
I’ve been having to deal with fireworks since Friday and it won’t stop until after next weekend with the most absurd taking place Friday and Saturday this week. I don’t bitch but it does kind of suck I can’t just sit out on my front porch in the evenings/night with my dog throwing him his ball for a couple weeks every summer. He seems accustomed to the smaller stuff but I’m not going to risk him running off so our routine just has to shift a little but it’s too hot to be doing that with him before it gets late right now. I guess I feel like it would be entitled behavior to expect so many other people to behave differently just because it’s not something I really care about anymore. I used to think they were cool as a kid.
it’s the 4th of July weekend my dude.
also, it was just Juneteenth
and in the UK they have the 5th of November
I’m not British or American, I’m just wondering how often that’s an occurrence.
apologies, your post read as a rhetorical question- but also, Diwali, Eid… there are plenty of celebrations around the globe throughout the year
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If you want that deeply to be away from people, go live deep in the woods for something.
But I don’t want to be away from people? I just don’t want bombs going off outside my house, which is generally considered normal 364 days out of the year
Living around other people involves them doing things you don’t want them to sometimes.
Living around other people also involves a certain level of respect for them and their presence. This goes both ways. If you want to lit up bombs you are free to go out deep in the woods for it (…well, except you’ll also freak put the poor wildlife there)
Careful dude. The folk on here really don’t like being told that
I think you have the crux of it, it’s normal 364 days of the year. Lots of folks like fireworks and they mostly limit it to one day annually.
Honestly at this point in my life when I think about fireworks I mostly just have a hard time getting over how expensive they are. But also, they are noisy and sometimes I get dragged out in crap weather to not enjoy them. I’m not a huge fan.
I also was also a kid once though and remember a time when they were the coolest shit on earth.
I can put up with the rare day and let others have their fun 🤷 just my take.
If I punch you in the face once a year for my own amusement, you wouldn’t be saying “it’s ok because he doesn’t punches me in the face 364 days a year”
I’m sorry, but are you trying to compare the sound of fireworks to getting punched in the face?
I suspect the point they were trying to make is that “only one day a year” doesn’t automatically excuse behavior. They used a rhetorical device to help illustrate that point by highlighting a scenario that is clearly not acceptable even one day a year.
Is this seriously the level of reading comprehension we’re working right now for real?
Let children lose fingers and get blinded.
Nothing to celebrate anymore.
Thank you. Fuck fireworks and the apes who enjoy them.
That aside, what do you even have to celebrate? Fuck you if you’re proud of any of this.
I’ve never thought about the country when lighting off fireworks. It is just the time of year to do it.
All of the points OP put down to not light off fireworks I completely agree with. Maybe “apes” is the correct description because that boom boom sparkle really fires off the seratonin in me.
I’ve never thought about the country when lighting off fireworks. It is just the time of year to do it.
So you’re a mindless sheep with lack of critical thinking skills?
i lIgHt fIrEwOrKs oN DaY BeCaUsE OtHeR PeOpLe lIgHt fIrEwOrKs oN DaY
You’re a very charming person with rational, valid takes all over this thread.
That’s a bit harsh. I already admitted to being a fireworks gooner in the original comment.
Once we actually get rid of slavery and stop lynching black people I’ll set off a firework or two
A few winters ago, I took a trip to Iceland, specifically Reykjavik. I learned that, for new year’s, there is an organized party well outside the city limits with no fireworks. This was for folks that didn’t want to participate in the usual celebrations that take place in town. They noted that it was quite popular with the Syrian refugees on the island. I think about that a lot.
I’ll add that NYE Fireworks in Iceland make American Independence Day celebrations look like a solemn funeral in comparison. I’ve never been anywhere that has been shelled, but I now have a really good idea what that would look and sound like.
It’s like if a dog was a human.
As I was reading this I thought it was going to be about Gaza.
If you take into account how much it freaks out animals to the point of heart attacks it might as wel be to them.
Celebrate the fourth by blowing up a piece of it with fireworks
