I hope my rant about this doesn’t force it into the BBQ Pit.
Tonight, for business purposes, I was in Ripon, Wisconsin. At 8:30p.m. I noticed some magnificant fireworks being blasted off over a local park there. Being curious, I called the local cops and asked why there were fireworks (I already suspected why). I was told it was because it was september 11th.
I’m f@#$ing disgusted. I love fireworks, but in my opinion, fireworks are a tool of celebration. September 11th is not a day to celebrate! Memorialize, yes. Celebrate, NO!
For one thing, (and this is my big point!) the war on terrorism is not over. We still have soldiers over in Afghanistan fighting. Bin Ladin has not been caught, nor confirmed dead. The time to “celebrate” isn’t yet. This shit isn’t over.
I understand completely that people want to be patriotic on 9-11. But there’s something about shooting off fireworks today that just doesn’t sit well with me. I say save the fireworks for the 4th of July, not September 11th.
Am I being a tight ass, or is it out of line for municipalities to be shooting off large fireworks displays on 9-11?
I would say it is about as appropriate as fireworks at a funeral.
Bad taste, and someone wanting to do something special to mark this day - and not really knowing how.
I dunno, I can see both sides to it. To carry on the funeral comparison… Some consider a funeral a time to mourn someone’s passing. Others, to celebrate the person’s life.
Though somehow I doubt the fireworks were for the people, instead of the more common “USA is best!” message…
Hell, I’m even opposed to the somber anniversary memorials, at least in areas far removed from the attacks. Why was there a day-long ceremony in my town? I don’t know.
What’s worse, it seems that a national convulsion actually plays into the terrorists’ hands. What better proof that you’ve successfully terrorized someone than to see them paralyzed with grief when the date of the attack rolls around on the calendar.
If we don’t watch out, in 5 years we’re going to run out of days of the year to hold these memorials. It’ll be like, “Do you remember where you were on Sept. 11th? And May 25th? And July 19th? And Long Beach Harbor Day?” I say, let those directly involved grieve as they will. For the rest of us, save it for when your city is annihilated.
I can see your point of view, but I feel that fireworks can be used for almost anything. I also think life is short and should be celebrated. I wouldn’t mind people shooting off fireworks when I die. Of course, I’ll never know what people do when I’m dead!
The New Orleans funeral processions are interesting. They parade through the streets playing music.
Actually, fireworks are perfectly appropriate for a funeral. It’s a Chinese tradition in order to scare off malign spirits, and I’ve seen it done in Taiwan. Mind, I’m talking about strings of firecrackers, not the big pretty showers of fire in the sky.
I dunno. Fireworks certainly wouldn’t be my first choice (in fact, loud noises and fire in the sky when people aren’t expecting it might be the very antithesis of what I’d recommend – even the fighter jets roaring around town yesterday scared the crap out of me). And of course I agree that “celebration” is the last word I’d use.
But that’s here. In Ripon, Wisconsin they were a little more removed from the occurences of the day but exactly as connected to the repercussions. Maybe they have a bunch of their sons in Afghanistan or preparing to go to Iraq. Maybe they just wanted to reinforce a newfound sense of patriotism. There’s any number of reasons why fireworks might have been appropriate for what they were doing.
I probably would have hidden in the basement while they were doing it, but I don’t know if I’d make a stink.
And not somber, depressing music, either – lively, upbeat Dixieland jazz. They’re basically saying, “Hey, the dead person is in heaven now! Woo! Parrr-taaaay!”
Shortly after 9/11 last year, my SIL’s Navy husband had just shipped out to the Gulf for a six-month cruise (and, yes, the cruise had been planned well in advance of 9/11.) SIL flew back to Ripon to participate in a court case. MIL invited us to her house for the weekend so that we could see SIL. She ended up inviting a whole bunch of people and calling the get-together a “war party”. I was fairly horrified by that terminology, but no one else seemed to be. If they were, they kept their mouths shut like I did. Yes, celebrating (or, “showing support for”) the war in Afghanistan.
I just told my husband about the events in his hometown, and he said, “Go figure.”
I don’t think fireworks are necessarily inappropriate, though. In St. Paul, they had fireworks on Memorial Day this year. It was actually a fairly moving ceremony, and not, IMO, inappropriate. Of course, people are used to celebrating Memorial Day, anyway.
If any town were to treat 9/11 as a second Fourth of July, it would be Ripon, Wisconsin. They are very, very “Hooray USA!” there.
[sub]P.S. The town also bills itself as "The birthplace of the Republican Party. I don’t know if that has anything to do with it or not.[/sub]
I mean, “The Bombs bursting” might remind people of the planes exploding into the tower.
Best stop every child playing Jenga until every terrorist is dead.
My point is that if you want to look for imagery that will upset you, you could find it anywhere…