# To my patriotic neighbor **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 6, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507 "2003-07-06T04:16:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/21 "2003-07-07T00:21:12Z")
Setting off fireworks is probably illegal in about 99% of suburban American subdivisions. A call to the cops after this had been going on for an hour or two might have had some effect. Thanks for the totally moronic hijack, **sailor**. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/22 "2003-07-07T02:33:35Z")
It may be illegal, but those laws aren’t enforced everywhere. Note **Mama Tiger** mentioning that the cops down the street were setting off fireworks, too. They had some Good Stuff, too. And I swear if those people do it again tonight, I will go kill them with my bare hands! ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/23 "2003-07-07T03:14:47Z")
moronic hijack? I thought it was hilarious and I’ve stuck it in the POF [http://fathom.org/teemingmillions/flames.html](http://fathom.org/teemingmillions/flames.html) ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/24 "2003-07-07T04:03:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by whiterabbit \* > **It may be illegal, but those laws aren’t enforced everywhere. Note Mama Tiger mentioning that the cops down the street were setting off fireworks, too. They had some Good Stuff, too.** Fireworks were illegal where I used to live, too. Consequently, the cop who lived across the street would bring home the best stuff they’d confiscated the week before. In the trunk of his cruiser. ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/25 "2003-07-07T05:29:07Z")
Oh go screw yourself and your dogs. Fireworks rule all the time and if you do not agree you just suck! ---
**Author:** ![deb2world](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/26 "2003-07-07T05:57:56Z")
On the 4th we had firetrucks and cops in my neighborhood. A few houses down the idiot set off rockets and set a lawn on fire. I worried about my house since the embers headed to the tree right in front of my house which is in bloom and they are very dry right now (end of blooming season). Fortunately the cops stopped them from setting any more off. Fireworks are legal in the next town over, but the city I live has a no fireworks law and they take it seriously. Also you cannot set off fireworks after the 4th. They prefer you just go to one of the free fireworks displays offered. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/27 "2003-07-07T12:07:19Z")
We had a dipshit in my neighborhood setting off the big BOOM-BOOM-BOOM fireworks at two AM. This was long after everyone else had settled down. He woke me up, and he woke up every damned dog on the block, too. Don’t mind fireworks so much, but fireworks plus stupid meth smoker equals scary possibilities. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/28 "2003-07-07T13:59:31Z")
I hate at-home fireworks, and I’m glad we’ve always lived in places they were illegal. You see, it’s not just my dog who’s freaked out by loud booming or popping sounds, it’s my daughter. She has Cerebral Palsy and one of the symptoms of CP is that she never lost her startle reflex. You know how if you clap your hands next to a small baby he or she will stiffen up and look really surprised? Well, at 16 my daughter still does this and always will. All of her muscles go into spasm and she stiffens up like an ironing board – and it _hurts_! Like a full body charley-horse. Now that she is older, she is able to control herself to some extent when she’s startled by a boom – when she was younger she would burst into uncontrollable tears. I assure you that a night of fireworks going off every 5 minutes would be excruciating for her and for us all. And, her reations upon being woken up by a boom are beyond her control. A few months ago, we were all woken up by a truck repeatedly backfiring on the road in back of our house. I ran right to her room because I knew she would be upset and she was – she was crying, disoriented and so stiff I could have picked her up by one toe. I had to massage her legs for 20 minutes and give her a Valium (which she hates taking) to help her calm down. And fireworks are much louder and sharper. Now, knowing all this, we avoid places where we know there are likely to be problematic loud noices. Battle reenactments with cannons, for instance, and Fourth of July fireworks displays. But if a neighbor _illegally_ set off fireworks near our home… well, we’d ask them nicely to stop and, if they didn’t, we’d call the cops. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/29 "2003-07-07T14:55:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \* > \*\*Fireworks were illegal where I used to live, too. Consequently, the cop who lived across the street would bring home the best stuff they’d confiscated the week before. In the trunk of his cruiser. \*\* I think part of the reason nobody does anything about them is that they ARE legal about a mile away. And SO MANY people set them off that I honestly don’t see how it’d be possible to enforce it. They didn’t even have to confiscate theirs, they just drove up the access road and BOUGHT them. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/30 "2003-07-07T15:10:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jackmannii \* > Setting off fireworks is probably illegal in about 99% of suburban American subdivisions. A call to the cops after this had been going on for an hour or two might have had some effect. > > Thanks for the totally moronic hijack, **sailor**. Your dog shit on the carpet too, huh? Lighten up, it’s just dog shit. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/31 "2003-07-07T16:53:56Z")
> [@](#): > > My brother’s dog, an aging Rottweiler, isn’t afraid of the fireworks. In fact, she’s rather aggressive towards them when they’re ground level. . . . One would think the heat from the flame would convince her to give up, but year after year she repeats the attack. With some of the larger effects, she has to be physically restrained to keep from getting hurt. I suggest, for the safety of the dog, you restrain her by putting something between her and the fireworks. A _door_ springs immediately to mind. It matters not to me which side of the door the dog is on. One would think you’d learn to keep the dog indoors after, oh say, _two_ episodes of this. ---
**Author:** ![sperfur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@sperfur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sperfur)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/32 "2003-07-07T20:13:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > **…if your dog shits on the carpet that’s a small price to pay for the freedoms we enjoy. Just think of those who are now in Iraq being shot at… They are protecting your home so your dog can shit on the carpet. Or would you rather Saddam Hussein came and took your home and your dog? Because that’s what would happen if you don’t do enough fireworks.** **sailor** , can I use this for a sig? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/33 "2003-07-07T20:24:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*I am sure the Department of Homeland Security and UnAmerican Activities is taking good notes on those who are not patriotic enough that they would complain about the really patriotic who are expressing their support for whatever they should support in the traditional manner. You are either with us or against us, and all that. And if your dog shits on the carpet that’s a small price to pay for the freedoms we enjoy. Just think of those who are now in Iraq being shot at without even the benefit of a declared war. They are protecting your home so your dog can shit on the carpet. Or would you rather Saddam Hussein came and took your home and your dog? Because that’s what would happen if you don’t do enough fireworks. Just thank your neighbors and clean up after the dog. \*\* 1. Excellent! 2. Perhaps those explosions were the WMD’s not found in Iraq. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/34 "2003-07-07T20:32:26Z")
What are you guys? Some kind of Muslim terrorists or something? Do you only appreciate explosived when they are strapped to some guy with a ratty beard in an Israeli market? What’s the big deal if a couple of Red Blooded Americans[sup]TM[/sup] want to fire up some sky candy ONE NIGHT of the entire year. Fourth of July is supposed to be a special time when people all over the world are celebrating the birth of America. I suggest you not ruin it with bitching and whining (which is unAmerican). Happy 4th… ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/35 "2003-07-07T21:04:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jackmannii \* > **A call to the cops after this had been going on for an hour or two might have had some effect.** Tried it. The 911 dispatcher (all calls to the regular police number go through the 911 board after 8PM) said, “There are fifty calls ahead of yours.” What wasn’t said was that most of the police force was at the carnival eating elephant ears and listening to Bachman Turner Overdrive, which is what I should’ve been doing. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/36 "2003-07-07T21:27:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dropzone \* > What wasn’t said was that most of the police force was at the carnival eating elephant ears and listening to Bachman Turner Overdrive, which is what I should’ve been doing. \*\* DOO DOO DOO…DOO DOO DOO…DOO…DOO…DOO…DO-DOO DOO ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/37 "2003-07-07T21:53:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dropzone \* > \*\*Tried it. The 911 dispatcher (all calls to the regular police number go through the 911 board after 8PM) said, “There are fifty calls ahead of yours.” What wasn’t said was that most of the police force was at the carnival eating elephant ears and listening to Bachman Turner Overdrive, which is what I should’ve been doing. \*\* Even on the 4th of July, Canada rules! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/38 "2003-07-08T02:47:30Z")
Not without Randy Bachman does it. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/39 "2003-07-08T10:24:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by msmith537 \* > **Fourth of July is supposed to be a special time when people all over the world are celebrating the birth of America.** All over the world? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507/40 "2003-07-08T12:40:54Z")
Yep. And if you don’t we invade. We be the BIG dog. Get used to it. :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-patriotic-neighbor/186507.md?page=3)