Opinions on fireworks

[Sorrelfur]

I'm curious how people feel about fireworks, I know us in the USA have been dealing with them for probably a week now It's my first time living in town and seeing how bad the fireworks are here. People have been arguing to ban them, etc. So I wanted to open up a discussion about it

Few things people broke up locally was people setting off mortars and artillery shells. Yup idk if this is normal in other states but it's huge here, makes it sound like a war zone. Personally I think these should be banned as I don't see the point? And someone pointed out how bad these in particular must be for veterans with ptsd

Aerial fireworks, I personally find this pretty and fun BUT the lack of safety when using them is getting concerned. Locally we've had a person trampoline burned by someone else's firework landing on it and a woman's house catching on fire for the same reason, her dog died in the fire. And countless other fires. I love fireworks but it's really becoming a matter of are we even smart enough in general to use them?

And last complaint people have is how long fireworks go. Here they start 3 days early and end 3 days after the 4th. I personally don't mind them going for a few days but I hate how they go til 4am on weeknights, as alot of us work early and it's a killer being kept up

So what's your opinions on the fireworks and how did things go in your area for the 4th? Any fires, etc

 

[jarek56]

We're almost getting as bad as Italy was in the 90s, and that's saying something. I think it depends on the area's behavior...and the fact that a lot of people are just plain lazy and don't want to drive the thirty minutes needed to find a nice open field where it's marginally safer to use them as opposed to right outside your g-ddamn door.

 

[Apparition]

Though I'm not from the USA, we have similar holidays here with fireworks and I dislike them. We have a lot of restrictions regarding use of fireworks but of course people ignore them, at the expense of the environment and safety of people. They can be absolutely beautiful, I have looked in awe at them before, but that beauty is marred by the risks and the loud noises involved as many people disregard basic safety measures. With how bad the air quality is this year and the risk of fires, it's even more irresponsible to set off fireworks I feel.

 

[Fluffy]

I hate them so much. Every year it's tradition for me to isolate myself, put on my noise-cancelling headset, and play video games with loud background music. Because if I don't, I become a hysterical mess of tears during 4th of July. x___x The booms get to me real badly and make me wanna hide. PTSD brain go "ow."

Visually though? They are damn impressive. We need noiseless fireworks. Use like light painting or something.

 

[Nemopedia]

As someone who is pyrophobic fireworks are pretty uncomfortable for me, hence why I prefer locking myself up inside when I know they're about to be fired. Watching them from a distance is fine, hearing them is also fine, but within firing vicinity not so.

That said, I do believe it should be banned. People don't know how to act and fire fireworks responsibly. Yes, there are a lot of resources and campaigns tellling you how to do so safely but rarely anyone ever heeds them at all, especially not the fanatics. Besides the fact that they're also terrible for the environment and that when someone (or something) gets hurt it RARELY is the one behaving irresponsibly.

In my country we make a distinction between illegal and legal fireworks, but it barely does and mean anything to the fanatics, who are also the ones doing the most harm. It makes me just that bit more resentful towards fireworks despite all of its 'beauty'.

 

[FenFren]

I don't like them. They're loud, could severely injure someone if they're not careful, they smell bad, and the neighbors set them off all day and night. That's right, they set off the fireworks in broad daylight. (I did not mean for that all to rhyme.) Just let me eat my Mac and cheese in peace please, along with sleeping. I want to sleep without hearing BOOM BACHOW wwwOooO BOW it makes me jump awake, and I don't like the flashing in my window.

 

[unanun]

They're banned in NYC but people continue to set them off no matter what (: I walked next to a pretty big one on my way down to watch the actual show, and when those things pop right above you you're reminded that there are many of them still in the tube, heh.

That being said, I do like fireworks. I think they are one of humankind's enduring creations of beauty, so their similarity to warlike things is really unfortunate (airshows are worse...). This year I saw some that I had never seen before, shells that popped into a sphere with a rainbow of colours flowing from one point to another.