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)
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
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
I love this time of year. It drowns out the sound of gunfire.
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.
My first dog was so chill that he didn’t give a single fuck about fireworks or thunder. He’d sleep right through it. Even before he went deaf. I swear he was just a dude who got turned into a dog or something because nothing about the human world seemed to bother him.
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.
On one hand, agreed. On the other hand, all of those Europeans are here for the world cup. I’m absolutely giddy to see their unbridled horror at this shit.
On the gripping hand, the point stands that fireworks were a mistake and should not be allowed.
American who lives in Denmark now.
New years here (where anyone can buy mortars and set them off whenever and wherever) makes the 4th of July anywhere I’ve been in the US feel tame.
The rest of the year you won’t see any fireworks at all. It’s like the purge
German here. Same. How could you even tell it’s the new year without everyone on your street setting off a dozen rockets plus various assorted low altitude fireworks each?
On one hand, a firework, on the other…
I don’t have another because I accidentally blew it up because drinking and fireworks go hand in han— nevermind
This is better with a visual gag element but joke incoming:
How do you give a redneck a vasectomy? Light a cherry bomb, put it in an empty beer can, give it to them and tell them to count to ten.
Redneck holding the can in the left hand, starts counting on their right hand. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… puts beer can in between legs and continues on their left hand 6, 7, 8, 9, boom.
There is a family several miles away that loves to blow up shit at random times periodically. The police know who they are. Most of the town knows who they are. The police do nothing, and it just goes on.
Had an apartment in a shady neighborhood for the first time in my life once. Did not appreciate the random “pop” noises that never really sounded like fireworks. Will never live that down.
Been there too.
Pretty much all of June and July was spent convincing myself that yeah, that was definitely just a firework. Or a whole string of fireworks in rapid succession…
My neighborhood starts early, as early as those stands pop up, and somehow they continue for months.
They also import illegal ones, although not at much this year. Local city governments have been cracking down. Last year, I heard heavy duty fireworks as early as mothers day.
I was so annoyed when NJ finally went and allowed fireworks in public hands. Now instead of having nice controlled by the township level shows with professionals, I get dipshit down the street setting them off and causing every dog to go batshit. And because anyone can buy fireworks, no one donates to the township show so we don’t even get to see the nice show anymore.
I don’t enjoy fireworks. Maybe if it was like the year 1600 and I’d never seen color and light it’d be really cool. But we have high definition Tv now.
I also don’t get why anyone films them. We have so many videos of fireworks as a species. Like we have the whole phenomena comprehensively documented, we’re good.
I’d happily see consumer fireworks banned. If people like them so much then there are plenty of organized displays which have way better shit than you can buy at Walmart, and I know roughly when they’re happening so I can turn the TV up loud, close my windows and keep my pets from being too traumatized.
What I can’t stand is the random 3AM explosions that sounds like the start of WWIII. If you’re one of those people, fuck you. Sincerely.
Well, you could always be the reason they get banned… just gota get creative with it?
Every year for a dozen years our dog would get so traumatized by fireworks that you could literally hear her teeth chattering. We’d turn up loud music in the house, and make her a bed in a closet, but she’d still bolt out and look for anywhere where it was less noisy or safer (there wasn’t such a place, but we couldn’t convince her of that). She’d jump into the bathtub or claw her way into a different closet, only to bolt away to find a better spot at the next explosion. And neighbors would light off the occasional firework until like 2 or 3 in the morning. We couldn’t go off and leave her. I grew to really hate the 4th.
She died a couple months ago, so I guess that’s no longer a problem for us personally, but I know we aren’t the only ones with sensitive pets.
Xanax. It’s a good thing.
Benadryl if you can’t get none. Plus the other stuff you mentioned.
Tried Benadryl and it didn’t help. Didn’t want to do anything to strong, but maybe should have. Doesn’t matter any longer.
Benadryl, or diphenhydramine hcl, doesn’t really help much for stress. It’s true that it can make dogs sleepy, and if given soon enough before the fireworks they may sleep through them. The problem is that some dogs have the opposite reaction and become hyperactive. Hyperactive and stressed will just make for a bad evening for everyone.
It is best to talk to your vet in the days before the fireworks start. A prescription is likely to be a better option for your pet. Talking to your vet first will also help to make sure you get the dosing right for your dog.
I see your point, but what if you love to be drunk, belligerent, and imposing your will on unconsenting, helpless victims? 🤔
God damn that is American 🫡 🇺🇸
Ok, this bums me out. I love fireworks and the 4th of July. I have such fond memories of it as a kid and am building memories with my own kiddos. Our whole neighborhood gets together and sets them off, and grills and hangs out. It is a whole (wholesome) thing.
There’s plenty of fireworks that aren’t a problem. Fountains and Spinners and sparklers are rad as hell, and honestly as a kid I hated the ones that are just really loud for no reason
All the cool smaller stuff was banned long ago in the UK. ‘Items of Erratic Flight’ including all the ground spinners, helicopters, bottle rockets etc. The consumer stuff these days is so boring. What would’ve made so much more sense is to keep the smaller ‘novely’ type fireworks that are typically relatively low-noise, and much better suited to the relatively small gardens here.
Instead we have these relatively powerful cakes that should have a 25m safety radius that almost nobody actually has in their garden.
Many countries have a unique style of firework making that is part of their cultural heritage, ours is almost completely lost as everything is imported from China now, we outsource the danger of production to child labour in Luiyang. Its a sad state of affairs.
Those are mostly what we do. No fire crackers. My kiddos are autistic, so ear protection is a must, just in case there is a loud one. But they love it and are even starting to love the louder ones as they get older.
Once again, a few assholes ruining it for everyone else …
Our whole neighborhood
Even the pets? The people with PTSD?
I mean, it is a small neighborhood. 🤷 There are pets, but they appear u bothered. My dog, for example, has no idea they are happening. The hot dogs on the other hand…
Launching fireworks had been banned in Kyiv for the last few years, for hopefully obvious reasons.
At least one good thing has come from it.
People love loud sounds and lights, be it explosions, light shows, loud music, automobiles, and a myriad of other things, what can I say? It’s a form of group stimulation that for whatever reason cultures find acceptable.
I don’t launch fireworks, and I agree people should be much more considerate about it, and keep loud sounds to specific pre-arranged times like 11pm to 1am for midnight events like New Year, 9pm-12am for other events. It’s not so bad if you can expect it, but it’s the random intermittency through the whole night is what I think is the most harmful thing about it. ANC headphones is the opt-out.
It’s not so bad if you can expect it
Animals will not expect it. Also they do not unterstand why and what’s happening.
ANC headphones is the opt-out.
How about an opt-in?
Yeah why is it okay to demand opt-out as the default for tech stuff, but unreasonable to expect the same courtesy for the crazy things society deems “normal”
Because opt-out in tech stuff is stupid too.
I don’t have a pet either, but I’d think to wrap a scarf or blanket around the head of your pet to dampen the noise and keep them close to you or in your bed to reduce the harm.
The OOP mentioned there’s no opt-out, hence my suggestion of ways to opt-out, but most public firework shows are opt-in and I agree it should be the main way to see fireworks. I bring earplugs to some fireworks shows I see, because I’m trying to protect my hearing even as I am enjoying it. In the spirit of offering solutions to this problem, you can start your own HOA where you either ban pets because they could be harmed by fireworks, or outlaw anything that could ever be an inconvenience to anyone.
but I’d think to wrap a scarf or blanket around the head of your pet to dampen the noise and keep them close to you or in your bed to reduce the harm.
That’s not doing the job. But I admit you are indeed able to reduce the noise with ANC headphones attached to the dog. (Did this and seemed to do the job.)
But that’s not the point. I shouldn’t be forced to do that in the first place.
but most public firework shows are opt-in
This could be a solution (banning private fireworks at the same time), but ignoring the fact fireworks not only harm pets but animals in the wild too.
you can start your own HOA
Snarky.
I can wish for a better situation too, while still saying why we are in an unideal situation currently.
