Do you consider your neighbors launching fireworks a transgressive act?

In My Humble Opinion
41

I consider it transgressive. To start with, they are illegal where i live- maybe sparklers are legal but that’s it. Whenever I go to a store away from home at the end of June, I’m amazed at the fireworks just out for sale. The fireworks around here start in the middle of June (in a normal year) and go at least a week past July 4. Second, I live in NYC. Even though it’s a neighborhood of single family houses, there’s no way someone can set off fireworks in their backyard and be sure they won’t set my house on fire - the lots are 20 by 100. Every July 5 I find fireworks trash in my alley and yard. Many streets are blocked because people are setting off fireworks in the middle of the street and they go on way past midnight.

Funny thing is I like watching professional displays - but the Gruccis aren’t going to set my house on fire or damage my car.

42

I think it depends on local law and custom. So i would say that seeing off any fireworks that are illegal is transgressive. But if you stick to legal stuff, on the 4th or maybe the closest weekend, naw, that’s not transgressive.

43

In some places, these are illegal (That photo is pretty close to actual size, BTW) & they sound like this

44

It depends.

When we first moved to Taiwan we lived near a large park and it sounded like a war zone during Chinese New Year, especially New Year’s Eve when the celebrations continued until two or three AM. Since different groups were doing it then after one group finished and just after we fell asleep, then next would start.

After we moved 10 minutes away to a small development surrounded by rice fields and a few farmers, it was much better.

The family across the road invited us to join them, and it was all finished by 10:00.

45

And? If those are illegal, i think it’s transgressive to set them off.

46

An overpowering arrangement of boomsparkles can be a source of wonder for the mind of a child whose brain is not yet fully developed. It’s magical and captivating, and I think the source of fond memories for a lot of people. However, after a few decades of life experience and the development of fontal lobes, an adult human brain is more capable of weighing the benefits of seeing the same thing for the 50th year in a row against, the chest rattling bangs, overpowering flashes, freaked out pets, uncontrolled wildfires, overworked ER staff, and triggered neighbors. I think it says a lot about the priorities of the suburban pyromaniac. Still, I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a transgression, which to me invokes moral breaches of a biblical nature. I’d say it’s no more than common thoughtlessness and inconsideration for the society that made available the fireworks in the first place. We see the same selfishness every day in other aspects of life. It’s just how (most?) people are, and it’s predictable.

Drive defensively, look both ways before crossing a one way street, know where all the exits are, avoid gas station sushi, don’t click on links in unsolicited emails, etc. You gotta be brave if you’re living in the land of the free; and proactively guard your own interests against the known and predictable intrusions of others.

47

All fireworks (outside of the big professional displays) are illegal in my hometown (due to a measure voted on by the citizenry 20+ years ago) due to the fire danger, so they are “transgressive” in the legal sense, in the sense of being against the collective decision of the local populace, and in the sense of endangering people. A good chunk of the city burned down a few years ago; much as I liked fireworks growing up, they are just too dangerous to allow.

48

If it’s not November 5th (or the Saturday night closest to November 5th) or New Years Eve fireworks are unambiguously jerkish and I hate them.

49

Only when they continue past midnight (or ~1:30 for New Year’s).

Launching fireworks, outside of professional shows, is supposed to be illegal here but TPTB don’t do much about it.

50

My very un-cool take: they are almost always asshole-ish. In my mind they’re just as reasonable as driving up to a stranger’s house and repeatedly blasting your car horn because you decided you like how it sounds.

51

Just to add …

Over on the thread about pro wrestling appearing on a Missouri PBS station, somebody – rightly, IMHO – pointed out that it was textbook snobbery to look down your nose at pro wrestling.

Which I do, and which I’ve always recognized as snobbery in myself. I don’t think it’s a widespread thing within my lizard brain, but professional wrestling definitely and perceptibly moves my ‘snobbery’ needle.

Thinking about this thread, this morning, I felt that needle move a bit again. Hadn’t necessarily thought of it that way, but … yeah.

There’s a boorish quality that I associate with both of those things. In all honesty, if you take a fair number of activities and add “way too much alcohol to drive legally” to the equation, I’m usually put off.

I once remarked about the manifest potential dangers of faith – believe in things not seen, or unsupported by evidence. It makes people vulnerable to demagoguery, and can pave the path toward authoritarianism.

Because of the bias my own snobbery imposes, I see these numerous circles in the Venn Diagram as overlapping in a few personality traits that – as we’re watching unfold right now – really aren’t benign, and Damn sure ain’t “None of your business!”

Are the MAGA rally types really the “shit-faced in the driveway, lighting off fireworks on the seven days around Independence Day, and then leaving a Godawful mess when they’re done” types?

Are they really the pro wrestling/UFC types?

Are they really the targets of present-day demagoguery who are gleefully employing their lifted and loud, domestically made pickup trucks to drag the Overton window a shocking distance to the right?

My bias says yes. But who knows.

52

I feel it would be transgressive on my part if I lit off fireworks in my neighborhood, because I know how intensely annoying they are to my neighbors and their pets. (They already have to endure the sound of a professional show at the minor league ballpark half a mile away three times each season). Why would I do that just to scratch my pyromaniacal itch? Others may be ignorant of the effect on their neighbors or feel their need for loud burning things outweighs being a considerate neighbor.

53

Or may well conclude that since they think fireworks are fun, that everyone thinks that fireworks are fun. In their mind they’re generously spending their dollars so you, the neighbors, can see and hear a show for free. And with no crowds!

54

That doesn’t bother me. I’m okay with it. But when I was younger I had illegal fireworks and lit them off, so that’s my bias.

55

I am thinking similar to that… Its hard to have a “live and let live” when you think everything maga types or similar do, basically sucks. Complex situation to ponder sometimes. (altho, I don’t really like opera and pro wrestling with equal non-understanding)
I had a reaction to fireworks displays as a kid, probably 1 or 2 years old, loud booms just freaked me out I guess. Ever since, that level of sound still freaks me a bit, like perhaps something bad is coming. Makes me very wary (sonic booms here from vandenburg launches do that to us all here) Fire danger is a real concern here so, its mostly smaller fireworks. As a teenager I did my share of firecrackers and shooting bottle rockets at targets I shouldnt mention, so I cant really judge anyone too harshly. Just calm down after midnight is all I ask.
Dogs do get locked in though, they are not too happy about the larger explosions.

56

FWIW (which, admittedly, probably isn’t much), I’m neither a MAGA nor a pro wrestling fan. Indeed, most if not all of the types of activities that stereotypically are enjoyed by that crowd (huntin’, fishin’, Country Music) etc. move my Snob o Meter, too.

But not fireworks.

57

If there’s a drought, or they are shooting them near the houses, then yes. Otherwise, I mean, it’s good transgression. You know, celebrating freedom. Reminding the “Powers that Be” that we are free Americans. I think now more than ever, that message matters.

But if you live in a drought prone area where bush fires happen, then maybe find a better way to send the message. And maybe send it while people are awake to hear it. Just sayin’.

58

I’m wondering if there are any ways to light the sky that don’t involve combustibles or explosives. Perhaps the day will come when someone develops a shell that uses a few picograms of radioactive material and produces spectacular bursts that don’t burn. And it will look like this.

59

I tried to figure out how many houses are in a 1 mile radius of me, and I couldn’t, but I think 500 is a reasonable ballpark. Of that, maybe 5-10 people set off fireworks in their yards every year that I can hear from my living room. It’s a small percentage who think that the law just doesn’t matter, nor does being inconsiderate.

Maybe they’re ignorant? But they probably just don’t care. It’s not like they’ve gone around and checked with all 500 households in earshot, and it’s irrelevant because we’ve already taken collective action as a community. I just wish the code were easier to enforce.

I have a neighbor across the street who’s one of these assholes. Every year I find a few remnants in my yard, so not only is he doing noise pollution, he’s giving me litter to pick up. But they also have an outdoor cat, which I consider a transgression because I like watching our local wildlife (it used to clean out all the bunnies, fortunately he’s getting older and isn’t hunting as well, we finally have bunnies again), and they also had an invisible fence in their front yard for the world’s most obnoxious dog. The dog would run at delivery people and tradespeople who would understandably freak out, not knowing about the invisible fence. After enough calls from the cops they were forced to keep the dog inside (they refuse to fence in the back yard for some reason). And then he had the nerve to bitch about “the city” over that one. Suffice it to say, I’m not surprised he’s also the type to set off fireworks in a crowded suburb.

60

Drones, but they’re hard to make an intelligible design with just the single drone that most people who have one own.

A small show is probably 150 drones + the software to program/control them all so they make appropriate patterns & don’t fly into each other & fall out of the sky during that ballet.