Neighbors and Fireworks

What kind of parent lets their kids play with fireworks? In our neighborhood, they don’t seem to care that their kids are shooting off rockets and setting off firecrackers. We’ll see how harmless it seems after one of them loses a finger or gets severely burned someday.

I always dread the evenings over the 4th of July holiday when we’re at home because of neighbors and fireworks. The people on the hill behind our house shoot rockets from their backyard over an open area between our street and the street above and behind us. Two things that lead me to think this is a bad idea (aside from the possibility of serious injury) are (1) very dry grass, and (2) the inability of these rockets to travel in a straight line. I can usually find several spent rockets in and around my yard the next morning. I called the police the first year this started, but they didn’t seem very interested in doing anything about it, so I don’t bother anymore. Thankfully they don’t bother Collen all that much, but Callie, a dachshund across the street has been scared all weekend. Poor thing.

Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island all ban the sale and use of fireworks by consumers. I’d love to see Missouri and Illinois do the same, but the chances of that are slim. Especially so for Missouri.