Fireworks Shaming

[Kestryl]

I love fireworks, but people as a whole are stupid. I have a background in chemistry and have run a lot of demo shows. Many people lack basic understanding of safety precautions and training for if something does go wrong. Now add intoxication...

 

[leahgoogle]

I wouldn't go as far as saying you are a terrible person but if you are lighting off fireworks that shoot into the air and you live in a densely populated neighborhood or sub-division then you might be an idiot who lacks common courtesy and some intelligence. I imagine that your neighbors already know that about you though.

We live in a rural town in a subdivision with many houses. There were about five houses in the subdivision (including ours) out of about 30 houses setting off fireworks on the 4th. People were out watching and clapping. No damage done to any other properties or vehicles. It can be done safely and with intelligence.

 

[AppleDumpling]

I don’t mind fireworks per se, but It just gets to be too much and too dangerous in a densely populated area with houses close together. My neighborhood sounded like a war zone Sunday night and for some it started early in the day, and at random times in the weeks leading up to it.

It’s all illegal in my county, but the police essentially don’t do anything about it. I was trying to keep my cat calm, but went outside for a short time and saw my neighbor down the block shooting stuff with a bunch of young kids hanging around in the street, way too close. That’s just stupid and just a matter of time before someone gets hurt. Meanwhile, there’s a professional show down at the beach 5 miles away.

One year some firework debris fell on our car parked in the driveway and left burn marks on the paint. Wasn’t happy about that, but guess I should be glad damage was only to the car and not the house.

 

[Pink Partridge]

I've been in my neighborhood for 20+ years as well and it has happened multiple years here. i really don't care about the stats either, if one person is leaving a mess and doing damage- well then it is being done and those people are *******s.
And you can save the sanctimonious BS for someone else, I never said everyone, I was specific in who I was talking about.

You're back!!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Neighbors are not looking to screw each other over, and a deft in-person touch (ie, not pixels) can do wonders for building relationships in the community and make things work for everyone (as I mentioned with my story earlier).

I mean is anyone saying that your neighbor is actually intending to burn your house down (or theirs for that matter)? Building a strong sense of community is awesome, it's why there's often activities and such in places like HOAs but what do you think the opinion would be if an errant firework or ember causes damage to HOA property and now people have to pay up to fix it or if someone gets injured or worse? Or what if some damage happens to someone's home and that homeowner sues the HOA? That works the same without an HOA too. Not to mention liability insurance doesn't usually cover illegal activities (assuming the show was not done in a legal way). Most people don't think about the what ifs and most people would be unprepared for the financial consequences (and that may not be the only consequence).

 

[DisTXMom]

Fireworks are legal in our neighborhood and the neighbors get together to set some off on the 4th. It’s just the one night and it doesn’t go late.

All of our Nextdoor sites are full with posts about it’s too hot/cold/wet/loud for fur babies….. bring your fur babies in its going to rain…. That sort of thing. I get it if someone has a pet, they should be taking care of it. Just don’t know that these posts are doing much.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I mean is anyone saying that your neighbor is actually intending to burn your house down (or theirs for that matter)? Building a strong sense of community is awesome, it's why there's often activities and such in places like HOAs but what do you think the opinion would be if an errant firework or ember causes damage to HOA property and now people have to pay up to fix it or if someone gets injured or worse? Or what if some damage happens to someone's home and that homeowner sues the HOA? That works the same without an HOA too. Not to mention liability insurance doesn't usually cover illegal activities (assuming the show was not done in a legal way). Most people don't think about the what ifs and most people would be unprepared for the financial consequences (and that may not be the only consequence).

We have a community pool - we could have a drowning that would also cause all of those things...or an accident off our diving board...and no one would mean for those events to happen, either. But, if we got rid of the pool (which some folks advocated for a decade ago, and were thankfully shot down), we'd have a cheaper HOA fee and no risk of water accidents or lawsuits against the HOA (and other homeowners) from harmed homeowners or even guests (b/c we allow them at the pool). But, then we'd have no community potlucks on pool grounds, family movie nights at the pool, or 21+ adult parties there, and our community would know each other a lot less. Life has risks, thus why life has insurance and emergency services. You can't take all risk out of life, but you can take all the fun and community-bonding out of it...

 

[sam_gordon]

The risk is always there and every year there's property damage or loss of life or both in my area. Pondering the ratio of show to damage is just a red herring to the discussion. I get it that people think others are poo pooing on the celebration parade and at the same time just because one year something doesn't happen doesn't mean another won't. It's like the turkey fryers, every year a lot of people get hurt or damage property using them but sure there are others that don't. That doesn't mean that it isn't described with the inherent risks attached to it.

But there are MANY, MANY activities that have inherent risks. As I mentioned before, mowing the lawn and working on a ladder. Heck, there are inherent risks when just playing sports. If you (general) want to remove everything that has an inherent risk, we'll all just be sitting in homes 24/7/365. That's my point. Are the risks of fireworks that much more than mowing the lawn? Why? When you're not doing so in a safe manner. That applies to fireworks, mowing the lawn, working on a ladder, etc.

 

[dez1978]

How do you know what they do or don’t do to prepare their dogs? And what about random nights? Like last Wednesday? Do pet owners need crystal balls as well So they can plan appropriately for every day that some damn yahoo wants some entertainment?

2 doses of Tradozone
thunder shirt
weighted blanket
fans and blasting tv
access to 2 windowless rooms

we did all of those things Friday, Saturday and Sunday and my dog was still terrorized.

I know bc I asked.... I know, bc they say they haven't. And pretty sure they all knew the last 3 nights there would be fireworks because it's the same complaints every year. It's the one weekend in town it's allowed so you know it's going to happen every night. If you do all the things and your dogs are still scared, I'm sorry, maybe try other alternatives. There are lots of other meds you can use. If you do none of those things, like these people admitted, well then, shame on you. But also you don't get to expect everyone to cater to your dogs needs. That's not how the world works. Also I kind of feel like you should be prepared the week before and after that this is going to happen some. It's part of living in a community. People around you are going to make noise and are going to do things you might not like. If they aren't doing it maliciously to purposely annoy you or cause harm and its legal, then why waste the energy being angry. Those "yahoos" are allowed to make the noises. This is one of the reasons I no longer live in town. I didn't like having to deal with the things that come with living in close proximity to others, so I moved.

 

[White Cat]

Dogs won’t die from hearing fireworks. Of course I imagine some on the dis will know dogs that have. Nervous people have nervous pets. Let them hide out and they will get over the noise.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We have a community pool - we could have a drowning that would also cause all of those things...or an accident off our diving board...and no one would mean for those events to happen, either. But, if we got rid of the pool (which some folks advocated for a decade ago, and were thankfully shot down), we'd have a cheaper HOA fee and no risk of water accidents or lawsuits against the HOA (and other homeowners) from harmed homeowners or even guests (b/c we allow them at the pool). But, then we'd have no community potlucks on pool grounds, family movie nights at the pool, or 21+ adult parties there, and our community would know each other a lot less. Life has risks, thus why life has insurance and emergency services. You can't take all risk out of life, but you can take all the fun and community-bonding out of it...

Respectfully these are such different things it's not even funny. Like who associates risk like this with sucking the fun out

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I was so inspired by the name calling and the cracks about the intellect of those that do fireworks and the like that I decided to look for some close outs. And viola!!! I found something all too appropriate for this thread.






Now THAT is some fine marketing there I must say.

Here's a video of what it is.

Booom. Wooof wooof wooof woof.

 

[jrmasm]

I know bc I asked.... I know, bc they say they haven't. And pretty sure they all knew the last 3 nights there would be fireworks because it's the same complaints every year. It's the one weekend in town it's allowed so you know it's going to happen every night. If you do all the things and your dogs are still scared, I'm sorry, maybe try other alternatives. There are lots of other meds you can use. If you do none of those things, like these people admitted, well then, shame on you. But also you don't get to expect everyone to cater to your dogs needs. That's not how the world works. Also I kind of feel like you should be prepared the week before and after that this is going to happen some. It's part of living in a community. People around you are going to make noise and are going to do things you might not like. If they aren't doing it maliciously to purposely annoy you or cause harm and its legal, then why waste the energy being angry. Those "yahoos" are allowed to make the noises. This is one of the reasons I no longer live in town. I didn't like having to deal with the things that come with living in close proximity to others, so I moved.

Shame on me? It’s not freaking legal here.

 

[jrmasm]

Dogs won’t die from hearing fireworks. Of course I imagine some on the dis will know dogs that have. Nervous people have nervous pets. Let them hide out and they will get over the noise.

That’s simply not true.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

But there are MANY, MANY activities that have inherent risks. As I mentioned before, mowing the lawn and working on a ladder. Heck, there are inherent risks when just playing sports. If you (general) want to remove everything that has an inherent risk, we'll all just be sitting in homes 24/7/365. That's my point. Are the risks of fireworks that much more than mowing the lawn? Why? When you're not doing so in a safe manner. That applies to fireworks, mowing the lawn, working on a ladder, etc.

Fireworks aren't safe period. Professional shows have their own risks (have you not seen when things go bad?). However, professional shows usually carry more restrictions including licensing, insurance policies a lot of times, training and more. The professional fireworks show I watched on 4th of July you better believe if they damaged the buildings in the office park where it's located at they would be on the hook for it. The problem with conversations (and not just speaking about your comment) is people default to "well everything carries risk so so what". It's an all or nothing conversation of extremes one I prefer not to engage in further.

 

[wenrob]

We have a community pool - we could have a drowning that would also cause all of those things...or an accident off our diving board...and no one would mean for those events to happen, either. But, if we got rid of the pool (which some folks advocated for a decade ago, and were thankfully shot down), we'd have a cheaper HOA fee and no risk of water accidents or lawsuits against the HOA (and other homeowners) from harmed homeowners or even guests (b/c we allow them at the pool). But, then we'd have no community potlucks on pool grounds, family movie nights at the pool, or 21+ adult parties there, and our community would know each other a lot less. Life has risks, thus why life has insurance and emergency services. You can't take all risk out of life, but you can take all the fun and community-bonding out of it...

Most of us are talking about illegal fireworks set off in densely populated neighborhoods. You really think the guy who went across county lines to spend his mortgage on them knowing what he is doing is illegal and breaking all sorts of laws is going to have a reasonable conversation with me? Like he’s going to say, “You know, you’re right. I spent over a thousand bucks on these but I’m going to scrap the plan because it might burn your house down.” He’s going to tell me to get bent to put it nicely. And the HOA/Community has zero to do with it. It’s illegal. No one in their right mind would okay it.

As far as insurance and emergency services that’s all fine and dandy for the guy who caused the damage. Not so much for the people who have to deal with it through no fault of their own.

 

[TippyThomas]

That’s simply not true.

I don't think Art cares. He seems to be in it for the reaction most times.

 

[dez1978]

Shame on me? It’s not freaking legal here.

Are you being purposely obtuse? You took my post and made it about you. I specifically said I was talking about facebook friends who I knew did not do anything to help their dogs ahead of time. You chose to make it about what you did and ask how I knew "these people" didn't do anything to help their dogs and I told you how I knew. I knew bc I asked. Shame on THEM for not doing anything. This wasn't about you in any way until you made it about you. I'm sorry you haven't been able to find something that works for your dogs. But in the circumstance that I was talking about it IS legal and they DID NOT do anything to help their dogs ahead of time and DID know this would be happening. Not sure why you're so upset with me.

 

[Christine]

But there are MANY, MANY activities that have inherent risks. As I mentioned before, mowing the lawn and working on a ladder. Heck, there are inherent risks when just playing sports. If you (general) want to remove everything that has an inherent risk, we'll all just be sitting in homes 24/7/365. That's my point. Are the risks of fireworks that much more than mowing the lawn? Why? When you're not doing so in a safe manner. That applies to fireworks, mowing the lawn, working on a ladder, etc.

Mowing the lawn or working on a ladder is solely a risk to you. Setting off fireworks is a risk to you and probably many other people or structures. I'm not sure you can put those risks in the same category. Same as the risks another pointed out: swimming, diving board, etc. Not a risk to anyone but yourself. Go for it.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

But there are MANY, MANY activities that have inherent risks. As I mentioned before, mowing the lawn and working on a ladder. Heck, there are inherent risks when just playing sports. If you (general) want to remove everything that has an inherent risk, we'll all just be sitting in homes 24/7/365. That's my point. Are the risks of fireworks that much more than mowing the lawn? Why? When you're not doing so in a safe manner. That applies to fireworks, mowing the lawn, working on a ladder, etc.

The difference is, if I’m playing a sport, mowing the lawn, working on a ladder, or setting off fireworks then I’m choosing to engage in those activities in a manner that I deem safe and am accepting any risk to myself. If my neighbor is playing a sport, mowing the lawn, or working on a ladder then he is accepting those risks for himself. However, if he’s shooting off fireworks feet away from my house, he’s now putting me at risk, too. I’m not choosing to engage in that activity. I have no control over what, if any, safety measures he’s taking. All I can do is sit in my home and hope my roof doesn’t catch fire. It’s one thing to accept risks for yourself, it’s another to impose risks on unwilling participants.