Just got called Karen. I dared to voice my feelings

[frazzled]

30. Do realize that fireworks can be dangerous, though

Not just to those setting them off, but to others as well. I used to live in a neighborhood in New York City way back in the day where the Fourth of July was sort of like a militarized zone. And the Italian Catholic church across the street was the instigator (no kidding). It would start in the morning with the priests handing out firecrackers to the little kids, who used them to blow up the mailboxes on the corners. (You learned not to mail in any bills in the few days before that.) It progressed during the day until nighttime, when the infamous "wall of fire" descended from the church roof: strings and strings of firecrackers that, while beautiful, went on forever. And a barrage of M-80s in the middle of the street that were terrifying.

One elderly man in our apartment building, which was directly across the street from fireworks central, had one eye, because the other was blown out during the event because he was sitting at his window watching. Another year, the printing business down the street was set on fire from the firecrackers, not only burning it down but sending dangerous chemicals into the neighborhood. Cars parked on the street were singed and burned—almost always with an out-of-state license plate, because all us locals knew not to park there on the Fourth.

There was no use calling the police. (Police were still the "pigs" anyway back then.) It was a tradition, and you didn't mess with tradition there. But every year we would pack up our giant dog and drive somewhere far away for the entire day and night, to Pennsylvania or somewhere rural.

If you live in an urban area, the fear of fireworks is real. It's fun, it's exciting, but the fear of fire or injury in dense neighborhoods is real. It's of course worse this year, because the city-sanctioned displays have been canceled, so more individuals are taking it upon themselves.