Boom
Can somebody please explain to me the allure in lighting explosives on fire as a form of fun? I mean, if you are over 12 and not a hobbyist safecracker.
And no, I'm not talking about the pretty fireworks in the sky, like the ones shot off from boats in the Marina.
I'm talking about the noisy M-80s and M-80 type fireworks and such that sometimes take off a finger or two in the excitement.
Thanks for scaring my dog, buttwads.
On the bright side, nothing over here is burning. Yet.
This is why "safe and sane" fireworks are illegal in LA "@epn424: #LAFD on a tree fire started by fireworks. pic.twitter.com/7rxWe3vs7L"
— Kim Baldonado (@KimNBCLA) July 5, 2014
Well, if we're going to subsidize lots of irresponsible breeding by the non-productive class, there needs to be some way to let evolution improve the intelligence of the human race. So let those kids have all the firecrackers they can buy.
I'll get my fix of things going boom by watching Mythbusters.
jdgalt at July 4, 2014 10:55 PM
There is a certain attraction to it, at least for adolescent guys. Difficult to explain, but definitely there...
We have an older dog who is scared to death of things that go boom (including thunder). Following yesterday, we were just discussing how to prevent this with our next dog. Here's a suggestion that we want to try - maybe it will still work for you dog, because she's so young...
Find something she really, really likes - liverwurst is a good bet. Whenever a firecracker goes off, give her a bit. Do this consistently for the first few events, and afterwards randomly every 2nd, 3rd or 4th bang.
This works for some dogs, if the behavior isn't already too ingrained. It doesn't make you love the firecrackers any better, but at least maybe your dog won't fall to pieces.
a_random_guy at July 5, 2014 12:16 AM
Randy, you're not teaching the dog to tolerate fireworks, you're teaching it to hate liverwurst.
crid at July 5, 2014 12:35 AM
Adreneline, I'd assume....
NicoleK at July 5, 2014 1:10 AM
Don't look to me for an explanation; I've never understood it - and still don't.
I'd be okay if the buttwads in my neighborhood only did it for one day; but, they started last weekend and have been going all week. Most likely they will continue to next weekend as well.
Oh, and they seem to think it is more fun to do at night when most of us are sleeping to get up early the next morning for work. I've more than once had to go out and let them know that they are waking up working folks; Especially when they are doing it right outside my bedroom window. Buttwads is an understatement!
So, I just wish they would take off more than just a finger or two - let them blow each other up!
Charles at July 5, 2014 3:28 AM
Aida was actually extremely well-socialized by our breeders but certain extremely loud booms scared both of us. Some ass lit something off so close to my house that it flashed in my windows -- and I'm behind a six-foot fence. This means they lit it off right close to all of the neighborhood's parked cars.
Somebody was even lighting off really loud something or others at around 4:30 am. Woke both of us up (Aida and me) -- Gregg was at home last night.
Amy Alkon at July 5, 2014 5:42 AM
I'm the wrong person to ask. I don't understand the thrill myself.
tasha at July 5, 2014 5:52 AM
-- from Ragnar's Guide to Home and Recreational Use of High Explosives
(PDF available, just google the title)
Scott_K at July 5, 2014 6:50 AM
Ah. This would be another advantage of living in SoCal, would it?
Article-wise, the "anti"s are leading the "pro"s...
If all those fireworks were just legalized, then people would act responsibly and use them less, right?
Meanwhile, out here in the sticks, distance helps tremendously, and we play that revered old Redneck guessing game, "Tailpipe, firework, gunshot?" with the added module, "What caliber was that?"
Radwaste at July 5, 2014 7:24 AM
It's Independence Day...or, as I like to call it, "National-Explosives-Lit-By-Drunken-Idiots-I-Wouldn't-Trust-To-Safely-Operate-A-Glowstick Day."
Patrick at July 5, 2014 7:29 AM
Not a really big thing here. Kids in our nabe ran their rockets and firecrackers for a little while, but seemed to be done before midnight, or maybe I just fell asleep.
But I don't have any dogs either. A Facebook friend was talking about her poor dog being unable to decide what room in the house was safest with all the racket going on.
Old RPM Daddy (OldRPMDaddy at GMail dot com) at July 5, 2014 8:02 AM
They are just celebrating their dependence on government and fervent faith that Obamacare will treat their injuries for free.
parabarbarian at July 5, 2014 9:08 AM
With apologies to your dog, they still go boom. Lots of fun if tossed in the right place and in the right direction.
It may not be as much fun as a Mexican Hammer Festival, https://www.google.com/search?q=mexican+hammer+festival&tbm=vid but it's still much fun.
jerry at July 5, 2014 9:12 AM
Not all dogs are frightened by fireworks. Here's a 24-second video of a dog who possibly made a family rethink their Fourth of July celebration.
Patrick at July 5, 2014 9:12 AM
Beats the hell out of me.
Between friends' autistic children and my BIL's PTSD, I don't find myself around fireworks a lot anymore and I don't mind one bit.
Sosij at July 5, 2014 1:50 PM
Egh ... they hurt my ears. Maybe I'm what the Innurnet calls one of those sensitive people. Maybe I just have good hearing. But ever since I was a kid, I hate loud noise of any kind. I was around 11-12 years old, and we'd head into town on the 4th of July to see the fireworks. I'd be that dorky kid sitting there covering my ears while the other kids shrieked with joy.
If they left fireworks up to me, it would be the sight of them accompanied by classical music. I just don't see too many people lining up for that, which is probably why they didn't leave it up to me.
Pirate Jo at July 5, 2014 7:29 PM
By the way,
Randy, you're not teaching the dog to tolerate fireworks, you're teaching it to hate liverwurst.
HA! Wine, meet keyboard. Hi crid.
Pirate Jo at July 5, 2014 7:31 PM
"Can somebody please explain to me the allure in lighting explosives on fire as a form of fun?"
All that time around the psych people and you still don't know this?
This is an expression of the control of power. BANG! --> I made that happen --> I wasn't hurt --> spectacle I don't get to see often --> Happy!
It's the same thing little boys do when they make guns out of anything they can find.
Radwaste at July 5, 2014 9:15 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/07/05/boom.html#comment-4822317">comment from RadwasteI get that little boys like this and teen boys, too. It's adult assholes lighting the firecrackers, for the most part.
Amy Alkon at July 5, 2014 10:45 PM
So what about the expression of power depends on age?
Criminy. I'm surprised, nay, astonished this isn't so obvious!
Why do males aged 8 to 98 find you fascinating when you dress brightly?
A spectacle amazes regardless of age!
Radwaste at July 6, 2014 7:33 AM
This is an expression of the control of power.
I think they just hate dogs.
Pirate Jo at July 6, 2014 8:18 AM
Our dog, who is scared of anything new and particularly fears the garbage trucks, doesn't even blink at fireworks or thunder. Go figure.
Our neighborhood was pretty quiet, especially compared to our old one in Colorado where we had people one street down who drove up to Wyoming every year to get the really big, highly illegal, fireworks.
Astra at July 6, 2014 8:49 AM
Guilty as charged.
I am a male (over 55), and enjoy setting off fireworks and semi-legal explosives to celebrate the 4th (from the 2nd through the 5th). I have been fascinated with fireworks since I was a 5yr old, as were my 4 sons. I consider all fireworks good clean fun.
This also led me into model rockets and engineering as a career.
Hey, hold mah beer and watch this.......
Joe Wooten at July 7, 2014 7:35 AM
Well lets put it this way. Mythbusters.
The concussive shock wave appeals to a very primal part of our nature. Just like loud music. That would be the primal nature you keep trotting out when it comes to gender roles. The concussive shock wave triggers an adrenaline rush.
The logic that only professional should do X or decide X has been the root cause of well all that shit libertarians rail against. Forbidding something because it inconveniences you or you dislike it is bullshit. However if the person does damage they should be held liable for their own idiot behavior.
vlad at July 7, 2014 8:45 AM
I'd left the dogs inside for the majority of the day on the 4th, then made them go outside to pee around 10pm... and of course one ran off. (He was only outside for 5 minutes when I called him back in.) He came back the next day, though. I was NOT expecting people to shoot off fireworks on Saturday, though, so when all of the drunken rednecks around me started shooting them off after dark, it was too late to get the dogs in. One was asleep under the porch, but the lab and the little worthless one bolted. The lab was back in the morning. Haven't seen the little one. Maybe a coyote ate him.
Is it normal for people in CA to shoot off fireworks inside of city limits? Generally, if you live inside the city limits of just about any municipality in TX, fireworks are illegal. (We live on acreage in the county, surrounded by even larger acreage... so fireworks ARE legal around here. But their not inside Austin or San Antonio or in any of the surrounding 'burbs.)
ahw at July 7, 2014 9:22 AM
Amy,
You are a girl. You may as well ask me why farts are funny. If you don't get it you won't get it.
Ben at July 7, 2014 5:43 PM
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