My neighborhood was a war zone last night for half an hour. Dozens of kids and parents setting off fireworks and fire crackers. It was awesome! And afterwards they cleaned up everything.
My town has strict ordinances against fireworks. Someone a few houses up started shooting some a few hours early. Only to get a warning from the police. Ignored them and was promptly arrested after midnight. Good riddance.
My idiot, redneck neighbor started setting off fireworks at 31 minutes AFTER midnight. After a few, I stuck my head out the door and loudly said " it was over half an hour ago you idiot". Things stopped after that.
Lived in an apartment that was right next to the little lake where the city did the fireworks. Everyone there pulled chairs out to the lawn to watch them. We were so close we could feel the pressure waves off of them. Best fireworks show I ever saw. However, it was right next to the zoo and the animals were not doing well from it so the city moved it to another location the next year. Can't blame them for that.
There's a bellend near us who always lets off a massive air-bomb thing, so I've taken to driving the dog to a spot a mile away where I can see the sparkles in the distance, but be completely untroubled by the noise. Last night was miserable with wind and rain but we were absolutely fine.
It sounded like a war zone over here. And almost no one cleaned up their mess after it. It looks like a garbage dump in some streets in the neighborhood where I live. It's the same every year. Record sales too. In the Netherlands 118 million euro's or 122.786.844 dollars. Nuts!
The feckless teens on Prague were putting cherry bombs in the concrete rubbish bins on the main streets - walking back to the hotel was like something out of Beirut. The ones who weren't were lighting rocket barrages in the street and firing rockets at crowds of people whilst nazi-saluting.
No matter what your thoughts on fireworks are, no one is going to prioritize pets of people they don’t know over their celebration. Expect this when you get a pet, because expecting the world to change just because you have one, is ludicrous.
By the same reasoning, nobody is going to prioritize your celebrations over their pet. If your idea of a good time involves annoying enough people, it's ludicrous to expect the world not to change.
I'm perfectly happy to prioritise other people's pets over fireworks. Just like I'm perfectly happy to drive a bit slower in a school zone. Or I'm perfectly happy to sanitise my hands before holding someone's newborn. Or forward a strangers mail that's mis-delivered. All that stuff's gravy to me.
I seriously think that we need a heavy tax on fireworks. Maybe this stupid tradition then starts to die out. No offense to party people, but fuck you and your fireworks. My cat went to pee before midnight and no matter how I called him he didn't come back until 6am because people started blasting early and scared him.
I never called you a retard and it's extremely unbecoming to use that word in 2025. Fireworks are allowed to be set off well before midnight hits in countries where people can set off their own. Thanks for validating my claims that you're the idiot though!
First of all *fuck* my fellow Germans for their stupid-ass attitude towards fireworks, and second, I guess, it wasn’t quite so bad this year. Maybe people are slowly coming to their senses?
I was on voice with my gf (she lives in Germany) and I was shocked at how frequent and CLOSE some of the fireworks sounded. She kept jumping at them going off...
I'm in the Netherlands and people were shooting fireworks right outside my apartment windows all night long. It's very different over since people shoot their own fireworks constantly and it's not normalized that only big shows do it.
I've heard 1 kid died so far over here in your neighbouring country, but many are permanently injured due to cobra 6's. Sales have skyrocketed in our country, because people were apprehensive of buying in Germany. Despite that I also heard the Dutch caused chaos there due to the many people buying there. The attitude here isn't any better I'm afraid, even though a few officials are calling for a ban as well.
Yup, 14yo kid died in Rotterdam. Witnesses stated he tried to light a Cobra 6, but it went off prematurely. Most other injuries were bystanders that got hit by irresponsible firework use of others.
Definitely less this year. But i guess for some people its a sport to strart the year comblaining about stuff. I dont buy fireworks but still watch them. We have people that own dogs here, even they had fireworks, so... maybe some people just enjoy to be against stuff.
If the problem doesn't concern you, it doesn't mean it's not a problem. Not all dogs are afraid, but many are. Ours definately is. She's trembling and whining from the first blast she sees or hears, untill atleast two hours from the last. And it doesn't have to be loud or close. She recognises the frequency of an explosion, i think. We had to come to visit a countryside relative right after christmass, because at our neighborhood they start blasting a week before.
Maybe from puppy. I don't think one can train an older dog such as ours at that level. She came to us when she was 8 and teaching out a fear is way more difficult than teaching a trick. There are military and police dogs and hunting dogs and i would wager those breeds are bred easier to train to endure loud noises. But i have heard from hunters who told that their specifically chosen duck hunting dog became a family pet dog after it escaped to the attic after the first shots it heard.
Yeah that surprised me too. Somehow I don't remember hearing of deaths before. Either my memory is slipping or was that not reported before? Accidents a-plenty for sure but deaths felt unfamiliar.
My dog came through it sleeping like a log. Recipe: 1) play white noise over the sound system LOUD. As in crank it up to nearly max. 2) create a safe space in the most center room of the house. In my case, the bathroom. 3) grab a laptop, chair, cushion for the dog, eats and drinks and hole up in there.
The white noise cancels out those effing bombs, the sound of whatever video you watch gives a sense of normal, and you’re there. It helped. Wasn’t as much fun for me, but she was happy.
Mine is usually a bit twitchy with fireworks, but last night we had a massive thunderstorm (the planet is dying...) just before midnight, and then fireworks. She wasn't having a good time
This. I've had great success using that technique, start low and gradually increase it. Both the dogs and cats are much much less stressed now, at most I see airplane ears.
Tried that, but my dog needs waaaay longer than a month to get used to it. White mouse cancels out the barrage, so that does help. Over the year itself, gradually do this. After three years, it’s starting to get better, so probably a few more white-noise-new-years for me.
Yeah, lots of pups out there having a bad night. Maybe look into one of those vests that hug them or some anxiety meds for the few nights a year people go crazy. My friends have good results with the vests
Way cheaper and faster than the vest, put a t-shirt on your dog and then tie the loose end at the hem up into a knot or twist it with a hair tie till it's snug at their belly. Dogs don't really need a lot of weight to feel safe, they just need something compressing their fur a bit to feel like they're being held and hidden.
Yep, I’m working right now on a military base in SoCal, lots of people in the surrounding neighborhood lighting off fireworks. A decent amount of people shooting guns in the air too. It’s sounded like a frickin war zone out here all night.
That sucks. Stray falling bullets absolutely do occasionally hit people, and wreck lives. Dead, or more often severely injured.
“Let me use this device that was SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO KILL LIVING BEINGS to make a loud noise to celebrate! Yeah! That’s a brilliant totally safe not stupid idea!”
Celebrating an arbitrary rotation around the sun, to boot. That could have been chosen to be any other calendar day, really, i don’t see anything special about it.
They are Navy. They are SoCal. They watch the ships. This limits it to San Diego. So they are stationed at either: Loma Point, San Diego, maybe Coronado (My money is on San Diego)
Sounded like artillery near me. People need to understand that animals and victims of trauma exist and are more worthy of peace than these assholes and their fireworks
I wish there was one spot somewhere around each town where it was legal to light fireworks, and illegal anywhere else. Advertised far in advance, so you could easily avoid it, or even get an hotel somewhere else if needed. And then I could go there and just watch the fireworks there and go home and sleep when I got tired, and I would not be forced to stay up till 3 from the sounds.
Doing the right thing. Respect. My dog hides under tables. We give him a little bit of cheese when there are particularly big bangs, hoping it helps build a positive association. Seems to help him recover more quickly, at least.
I know I could be wrong, but I heard what sounded like gunfire. It was too rapid and consistent to just be fireworks. We live in the city. I really hope I am either wrong or that they were shooting into the ground.
But a lot of people are having fun and celebrating life? Medication and other measures do exist, it has to be a balance. I say this as someone who has been homeless due to noise sensitivity, and a drawer full of medications and various coping strategies from trauma. I don't want others to stop living in the moment for a short period.
A lot of people after WWII found ambulance sirens seriously difficult to cope with, and those were unpredictable and ongoing noises, a lot more challenging imo.
I gave my dog alprazolam (and anti anxiety med), prescribed by his vet, and he still shook in his skin every time a firework went off. There are other ways to celebrate. Unfortunately nobody cares about others enough to just Not. The thing that gets me is that in my city, fireworks more than 10' off the ground are illegal. But every 4th of july and new years it doesn't seem to matter at all. And do the cops care? No.
A lot of things are not necessary but cause stress to some and joy to others. I acknowledge it's far from simple, balancing negative and positive freedoms. If I was a policy maker, I would institute a study into impacts and possible mitigations, community use, comparison to other jurisdictions, etc.
......we have plenty of studies about the multitude of negative impacts of fireworks on the environment, wildlife, veterans, and so on. This isn't just people guessing. Do you think people are just complaining? I'm not sure where your hangup is stemming from.
Sure, let me rephrase that. It's a balance, so I'd want to look into weighing up the positives and negatives by looking at the studies. The existence of negatives alone does not in and of itself suggest a ban should be indicated: see alcohol. I said it was complicated, and you seem to be saying it is not. Okay. I don't live in a country where fireworks are as ubiquitous as yours. It is only in some jurisdictions and their use is strictly regulated. I did include the option of regulation.
Okay. Counterpoint. Everywhere I've ever lived has had regulations on fireworks. Locations or times when it's acceptable, or bans on them within city limits. I have never once lived in a place where those regulations were followed, even a little bit.
I miss fireworks, they're not legal where I am unless you have a licence. Didn't stop some people letting them off near me which I thought was fun. I miss the cheerful anarchy of Cracker Night (as we called it) allowed for three hours a year.
Including the holiday of October 12th at 3:52am and who could miss celebrating the revered Two Weeks And Six Days Into Winter Festivus with a midday round of barely-visible air bursts.
Maybe we just live different places. But I didn't see or hear fireworks last night. I live in the suburbs about 5 miles away from a mid size city downtown. Guess I'm just lucky it was easy to avoid for me. Sounds like it wasn't for you.
Ah! Think I’m afraid of you?! Huh!? Who’s afraid of evil air?? How much do you charge to rent it anyway?? A dollar!? A measly dollar??? Well, I CAN’T AFORD THAT!!
YOU’LL NEVER CATCH ME!
YOU’LL NEVER MAKE ME HAVE ADVENTURE-BASER ROLE PLAYING FUN!!
Just please don’t chase me for more than like 10 meters oh god lol
But which part don't you like? Is it the hearing loss, eye damages, the cancerous heavy metals washed into our drinking water reservoirs, our pets getting ptsd, the dangerous working conditions when it is being made, the fire hazards when ppl save leftover rockets for next year, or something else?
Mustn’t forget loss of appendages! I’ve seen my friend’s older brother blow off most of his thumb and index finger when I was 7 years old. Another friend lit a giant handful of sparklers in their hand at once and it burned so hot and so quickly they needed skin grafting for it to heal 🤦♀️
The asshats who decide they are going to set off a fucking mortar three days early in the middle of the god damned night and the thing explodes right near my office with no fucking preamble or warning. I, an Army vet of Afghanistan, nearly had a fucking heart attack, and insane rage kicked in instantly.
Honestly it's suddenly knowing a bunch of people with the nickname "stumpy". One dude tried going by "fingerblaster" but that didn't last long. I've also heard Nubbins used.
Dutch person here. Just read about 20 burned down cars in Utrecht alone, at least 17 eye related injuries in Rotterdam eye hospital, several other serious injuries, and a dead 14yo kid. According to doctor's this was a regular New Year's Eve compared to previous years.
"It's such a fun tradition, you can't take it away!"
I thought a lot of fireworks rules got more strict, less towns that even “allow” it anymore. But they had a record sale this of fireworks this year. I said allow in quotation marks, because it matters shit if the police aint enforcing it. Theyve been blowing up things for 2 weeks now. During the day, and all sorta of illegal heavy shit like cobras and whatnot
I dont think the anti fireworks measures are working
Hard to enforce anyway, by the time police are on the scene of an explosion the kids will be long gone. And there are too many blasts during the day for the police to be everywhere at once. They had plenty of arrests, though. So it's not like they aren't enforcing.
The very existence of them. They cause a lot of animal death and pollution just so people can go 'ooh pretty lights' for a few minutes. Humans need to get a fucking grip.
You... you're really going to try and justify our choice to pollute for the sake of a pop and some pretty lights against a predators natural instinct? Which is also the responsibility of the human pet owners or the people taking on pets they shouldn't?
My neighborhood has sounded like a war zone for like 3 straight hours and obviously went nuts at midnight. Glad I don’t have dogs. People really blowing some money on fireworks this year
We have a dog, he had a terrifying time, poor fucker. I love a firework display, but why every cunt with a box of matches thinks they have to fire rockets off in a middle of a housing estate and then keep it going till 1am is beyond me. Like, use your fucking heads, you absolute dick helmets
It gets so bad during the 4th of July in my neighborhood that my wife and I hide in the basement or leave. She's got ptsd from surviving Operation Just Cause, so she gets flashbacks, and I've been in the military since forever, so the one-off mortars over my house set me off.
The 4th is louder, but New Years is more dangerous. A stray bullet came scarily close to my window a few years ago, so I always get more nervous on New Years Eve. I was thinking about going the basement last night, but it wasn't as bad as previous years
RiddingBean
My neighborhood was a war zone last night for half an hour. Dozens of kids and parents setting off fireworks and fire crackers. It was awesome! And afterwards they cleaned up everything.
poundingCode
Drums… drums in the deep
zalurker
My town has strict ordinances against fireworks. Someone a few houses up started shooting some a few hours early. Only to get a warning from the police. Ignored them and was promptly arrested after midnight. Good riddance.
tbandb
This was the quietest NYE I've experienced in DC in 15 years.
vodkaho
My idiot, redneck neighbor started setting off fireworks at 31 minutes AFTER midnight. After a few, I stuck my head out the door and loudly said " it was over half an hour ago you idiot". Things stopped after that.
SteveTheEgg
There was some here I was able to tell when midnight hit by the loudest boom. But it wasn't too bad.
AMercer
Lived in an apartment that was right next to the little lake where the city did the fireworks. Everyone there pulled chairs out to the lawn to watch them. We were so close we could feel the pressure waves off of them. Best fireworks show I ever saw. However, it was right next to the zoo and the animals were not doing well from it so the city moved it to another location the next year. Can't blame them for that.
badgerZ505
Seriously who cares about celebrating a new year any more? I actually forgot about it until the fireworks started popping off.
bl0ke
There's a bellend near us who always lets off a massive air-bomb thing, so I've taken to driving the dog to a spot a mile away where I can see the sparkles in the distance, but be completely untroubled by the noise. Last night was miserable with wind and rain but we were absolutely fine.
higaran101
This show was pretty good in general, but I think this is one of the greatest scenes in history.
keillrandor
*what I wish I could make my lights do when I turn them on in ATS*
Timmy79
That scene was absolutely masterful
desalniettemin
It sounded like a war zone over here. And almost no one cleaned up their mess after it. It looks like a garbage dump in some streets in the neighborhood where I live. It's the same every year. Record sales too. In the Netherlands 118 million euro's or 122.786.844 dollars. Nuts!
ClikeX
The street where I used to celebrate NYE always had a massive garbage pile of fireworks in the playground at the end of the night. It was nuts.
RaynWisp
My hand is sore because apparently my dog chews it while I'm asleep during fireworks.
Dolenmorgul
We're on holiday in Holland and I kid you not nonstop fireworks from 4 in the afternoon till 2 in the night
witheredspoon
TheN8
The feckless teens on Prague were putting cherry bombs in the concrete rubbish bins on the main streets - walking back to the hotel was like something out of Beirut. The ones who weren't were lighting rocket barrages in the street and firing rockets at crowds of people whilst nazi-saluting.
Normandingo
Great clip from a great show! Hope the reboot's a funny
MayMayz4DayzYo
BOX SAID TWO DAYS.
Bigblackdick69
Worth it!!!
Narsuaq
I always upvote Malcolm in The Middle
DeeplyBroken
The entire Netherlands was like a Michael Bay movie last night. Explosions everywhere, and they went on and on...
adiving
Not here, I saw a grand total of 1 pot, 0 rockets and not even an impressive amount of bangs. Not that I mind
DeeplyBroken
Personally, I dislike fireworks. Lots of noise and air pollution. Ugh. Not my thing.
januarylover
This is a top-tier Malcolm gag. That show was a gift.
zetzmemp
No matter what your thoughts on fireworks are, no one is going to prioritize pets of people they don’t know over their celebration. Expect this when you get a pet, because expecting the world to change just because you have one, is ludicrous.
Kargathia
By the same reasoning, nobody is going to prioritize your celebrations over their pet. If your idea of a good time involves annoying enough people, it's ludicrous to expect the world not to change.
zetzmemp
Literally every holiday with fireworks proves this wrong. But sure, maybe this year no one will do fireworks.
januarylover
I'm perfectly happy to prioritise other people's pets over fireworks. Just like I'm perfectly happy to drive a bit slower in a school zone. Or I'm perfectly happy to sanitise my hands before holding someone's newborn. Or forward a strangers mail that's mis-delivered. All that stuff's gravy to me.
ZySoua
I seriously think that we need a heavy tax on fireworks. Maybe this stupid tradition then starts to die out. No offense to party people, but fuck you and your fireworks. My cat went to pee before midnight and no matter how I called him he didn't come back until 6am because people started blasting early and scared him.
MermaidLullaby
Wait, you let your cat out ON NEW YEAR'S EVE? You're the idiot here jesus christ.
ZySoua
I let him long before the midnight, but if people start blasting some two-three hours before the midnight then I am sorry, so who is the retard. Bye.
MermaidLullaby
I never called you a retard and it's extremely unbecoming to use that word in 2025. Fireworks are allowed to be set off well before midnight hits in countries where people can set off their own. Thanks for validating my claims that you're the idiot though!
fickfacedmcgee
Trazodone worked wonders for my pups. Gave it around 9:30 pm. They didn't react with the fireworks and are snuggled up like little babies on my bed.
henryvk
First of all *fuck* my fellow Germans for their stupid-ass attitude towards fireworks, and second, I guess, it wasn’t quite so bad this year. Maybe people are slowly coming to their senses?
wantfastcars
I was on voice with my gf (she lives in Germany) and I was shocked at how frequent and CLOSE some of the fireworks sounded. She kept jumping at them going off...
MermaidLullaby
I'm in the Netherlands and people were shooting fireworks right outside my apartment windows all night long. It's very different over since people shoot their own fireworks constantly and it's not normalized that only big shows do it.
SkalorLune
I've heard 1 kid died so far over here in your neighbouring country, but many are permanently injured due to cobra 6's. Sales have skyrocketed in our country, because people were apprehensive of buying in Germany. Despite that I also heard the Dutch caused chaos there due to the many people buying there. The attitude here isn't any better I'm afraid, even though a few officials are calling for a ban as well.
ClikeX
Yup, 14yo kid died in Rotterdam. Witnesses stated he tried to light a Cobra 6, but it went off prematurely. Most other injuries were bystanders that got hit by irresponsible firework use of others.
michBeast
Definitely less this year. But i guess for some people its a sport to strart the year comblaining about stuff. I dont buy fireworks but still watch them. We have people that own dogs here, even they had fireworks, so... maybe some people just enjoy to be against stuff.
henryvk
I don’t care about dogs but I see the songbirds in our yard absolutely panicking and going crazy. It’s just not right to do this.
HerrHat
If the problem doesn't concern you, it doesn't mean it's not a problem.
Not all dogs are afraid, but many are. Ours definately is. She's trembling and whining from the first blast she sees or hears, untill atleast two hours from the last. And it doesn't have to be loud or close. She recognises the frequency of an explosion, i think.
We had to come to visit a countryside relative right after christmass, because at our neighborhood they start blasting a week before.
michBeast
Serious question: Dogs can be trained to do many things. Could there be a way to teach them its not bad?
HerrHat
Maybe from puppy. I don't think one can train an older dog such as ours at that level. She came to us when she was 8 and teaching out a fear is way more difficult than teaching a trick.
There are military and police dogs and hunting dogs and i would wager those breeds are bred easier to train to endure loud noises. But i have heard from hunters who told that their specifically chosen duck hunting dog became a family pet dog after it escaped to the attic after the first shots it heard.
henryvk
Or maybe not, so far five people have been killed (or rather like themselves) by improper handling or use of illegal fireworks.
Mithi
Yeah that surprised me too. Somehow I don't remember hearing of deaths before. Either my memory is slipping or was that not reported before? Accidents a-plenty for sure but deaths felt unfamiliar.
nokia58
five less "fireworkers" next year, so a win?
halcyon742
My dog is losing her shit
g0atsmuggler8
I have one dog that’s chill with fireworks and one that loses her mind. I have to give her 4 Benadryl every year to get her to chill out
nonottelling
My dog came through it sleeping like a log. Recipe:
1) play white noise over the sound system LOUD. As in crank it up to nearly max.
2) create a safe space in the most center room of the house. In my case, the bathroom.
3) grab a laptop, chair, cushion for the dog, eats and drinks and hole up in there.
The white noise cancels out those effing bombs, the sound of whatever video you watch gives a sense of normal, and you’re there. It helped. Wasn’t as much fun for me, but she was happy.
2beagles
Mine is usually a bit twitchy with fireworks, but last night we had a massive thunderstorm (the planet is dying...) just before midnight, and then fireworks. She wasn't having a good time
Higure
Have you looked into playing firework sounds on a speaker throughout December? That works for a lot of pets.
krstd
This. I've had great success using that technique, start low and gradually increase it. Both the dogs and cats are much much less stressed now, at most I see airplane ears.
nonottelling
Tried that, but my dog needs waaaay longer than a month to get used to it. White mouse cancels out the barrage, so that does help. Over the year itself, gradually do this. After three years, it’s starting to get better, so probably a few more white-noise-new-years for me.
AnotherMeetingWithHR
Yeah, lots of pups out there having a bad night. Maybe look into one of those vests that hug them or some anxiety meds for the few nights a year people go crazy. My friends have good results with the vests
nonottelling
My ex said a vest might help. Will look into that as well. 👍
IHaveGreatKittenRecipes
Way cheaper and faster than the vest, put a t-shirt on your dog and then tie the loose end at the hem up into a knot or twist it with a hair tie till it's snug at their belly. Dogs don't really need a lot of weight to feel safe, they just need something compressing their fur a bit to feel like they're being held and hidden.
morningxafter
Yep, I’m working right now on a military base in SoCal, lots of people in the surrounding neighborhood lighting off fireworks. A decent amount of people shooting guns in the air too. It’s sounded like a frickin war zone out here all night.
AimingForAdorkable
Fucking idiots.
That sucks. Stray falling bullets absolutely do occasionally hit people, and wreck lives. Dead, or more often severely injured.
“Let me use this device that was SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO KILL LIVING BEINGS to make a loud noise to celebrate!
Yeah! That’s a brilliant totally safe not stupid idea!”
Celebrating an arbitrary rotation around the sun, to boot. That could have been chosen to be any other calendar day, really, i don’t see anything special about it.
Fucking idiots
1stDrunkJoe
OpSec PO, we ain't all friendlies.
TheNLK
What a dumb motherfucker.
morningxafter
Literally nothing I said violates OPSEC though. Didn’t even name the base.
WeekendWarriorMark
Just two to choose from both being in the same city. Still probably fine in regard to opsec. Hooyah seaman!
teknojo
Two to choose from?
There are at least 6 major cities with two or more military bases in or on the edge of them.
WeekendWarriorMark
They are Navy. They are SoCal. They watch the ships. This limits it to San Diego. So they are stationed at either: Loma Point, San Diego, maybe Coronado (My money is on San Diego)
1stDrunkJoe
Sorry, Petty Officer didn't mean to step on your toes.
TheFifthTK
Sounded like artillery near me. People need to understand that animals and victims of trauma exist and are more worthy of peace than these assholes and their fireworks
Togame21
I wish there was one spot somewhere around each town where it was legal to light fireworks, and illegal anywhere else. Advertised far in advance, so you could easily avoid it, or even get an hotel somewhere else if needed. And then I could go there and just watch the fireworks there and go home and sleep when I got tired, and I would not be forced to stay up till 3 from the sounds.
StellaMatutina
Lot of people claim that being left alive is a blessing. I don't agree but
TheDildoOfConsequences
I spent the hours around midnight in a cellar with a trembling dog. Quite the celebration, eh.
YouTalkShiteHen
Doing the right thing. Respect.
My dog hides under tables. We give him a little bit of cheese when there are particularly big bangs, hoping it helps build a positive association. Seems to help him recover more quickly, at least.
HelpfulHomo
I absolutely hate it. But my pups and I can handle it. I just wish they'd stick to July 4th and NYE.
MajorasFlipFlops
So loud. I kept looking outside. Just to go "oh yea cops don't care about inner city fireworks."
GravyEducation
I always jump. However Francis was "responsible" here by letting the boys go way out in the range.
Isthe4thtimethecharm
I know I could be wrong, but I heard what sounded like gunfire. It was too rapid and consistent to just be fireworks. We live in the city. I really hope I am either wrong or that they were shooting into the ground.
skathir
But a lot of people are having fun and celebrating life? Medication and other measures do exist, it has to be a balance. I say this as someone who has been homeless due to noise sensitivity, and a drawer full of medications and various coping strategies from trauma. I don't want others to stop living in the moment for a short period.
A lot of people after WWII found ambulance sirens seriously difficult to cope with, and those were unpredictable and ongoing noises, a lot more challenging imo.
IMustGrowUpReally
'Animals' does not stop at pets. Countless wild animals will also be traumatised by the effects of fireworks.
wookietiddy
I gave my dog alprazolam (and anti anxiety med), prescribed by his vet, and he still shook in his skin every time a firework went off. There are other ways to celebrate. Unfortunately nobody cares about others enough to just Not. The thing that gets me is that in my city, fireworks more than 10' off the ground are illegal. But every 4th of july and new years it doesn't seem to matter at all. And do the cops care? No.
netutoring
Ambulance sirens are necessary. Fireworks are not. I can kinda see your point, but we're not comparing apples to apples there.
skathir
A lot of things are not necessary but cause stress to some and joy to others. I acknowledge it's far from simple, balancing negative and positive freedoms. If I was a policy maker, I would institute a study into impacts and possible mitigations, community use, comparison to other jurisdictions, etc.
netutoring
......we have plenty of studies about the multitude of negative impacts of fireworks on the environment, wildlife, veterans, and so on. This isn't just people guessing. Do you think people are just complaining? I'm not sure where your hangup is stemming from.
skathir
Sure, let me rephrase that. It's a balance, so I'd want to look into weighing up the positives and negatives by looking at the studies. The existence of negatives alone does not in and of itself suggest a ban should be indicated: see alcohol. I said it was complicated, and you seem to be saying it is not. Okay. I don't live in a country where fireworks are as ubiquitous as yours. It is only in some jurisdictions and their use is strictly regulated. I did include the option of regulation.
WizardofAnus
Okay. Counterpoint.
Everywhere I've ever lived has had regulations on fireworks.
Locations or times when it's acceptable, or bans on them within city limits.
I have never once lived in a place where those regulations were followed, even a little bit.
tarnok
Americans can't even ban guns when thousands of children are murdered by them, but ya banning fireworks will totally be a cinch in this society 😂
myballshurt
So sick of fireworks
skathir
I miss fireworks, they're not legal where I am unless you have a licence. Didn't stop some people letting them off near me which I thought was fun. I miss the cheerful anarchy of Cracker Night (as we called it) allowed for three hours a year.
skathir
A real Festival of Misrule, traditional midwinter/Christmas celebration that the Puritans REALLY didn't like.
g0atsmuggler8
We did a few fireworks with our kiddos but it definitely wasn’t anything too crazy like what other people had
desalniettemin
Me too. It was like a war zone where I live.
Copperbrat
I don't mind them on the 4th. But seems like male suburbanites use every single fucking holiday as an excuse for exploding shit now.
Hammertulski
Including the holiday of October 12th at 3:52am and who could miss celebrating the revered Two Weeks And Six Days Into Winter Festivus with a midday round of barely-visible air bursts.
Dajova
I'm glad I live in a semi-small town, the fireworks died down completely after like 15-20m.
sambaah05
Fortunately they are relatively easy for you to avoid.
CoachMcgurl
How?
Hammertulski
If fireworks were as silent as the answer you’re gonna get, they’d be a much smaller issue.
LookingLikeASnack
Yea it's not like they're visible and audible from miles away.
sambaah05
Maybe we just live different places. But I didn't see or hear fireworks last night. I live in the suburbs about 5 miles away from a mid size city downtown. Guess I'm just lucky it was easy to avoid for me. Sounds like it wasn't for you.
MaeylaRush
And fireworks are sick of you! Yeah! I said it! - Please don’t come fight me. I’m not very big and can’t run for very long lol
Evillairforrent
Oh boy.
Come here tiny person.
I wish to fight you!
Hey wait. Stop running! ....i wanted to play dnd....*sad sigh*
MaeylaRush
Ah! Think I’m afraid of you?! Huh!? Who’s afraid of evil air?? How much do you charge to rent it anyway?? A dollar!? A measly dollar??? Well, I CAN’T AFORD THAT!!
YOU’LL NEVER CATCH ME!
YOU’LL NEVER MAKE ME HAVE ADVENTURE-BASER ROLE PLAYING FUN!!
Just please don’t chase me for more than like 10 meters oh god lol
Evillairforrent
MaeylaRush
You’ll never catch me! I’m too agile! Too swift, like a dove!!
YippeeKayakOB
But which part don't you like? Is it the hearing loss, eye damages, the cancerous heavy metals washed into our drinking water reservoirs, our pets getting ptsd, the dangerous working conditions when it is being made, the fire hazards when ppl save leftover rockets for next year, or something else?
MaeylaRush
Mustn’t forget loss of appendages! I’ve seen my friend’s older brother blow off most of his thumb and index finger when I was 7 years old. Another friend lit a giant handful of sparklers in their hand at once and it burned so hot and so quickly they needed skin grafting for it to heal 🤦♀️
But other than all the others reasons too… 🤦♀️
ForceKinTim
Drunk people handling explosives around children
Judany73
How about plastic bits all over the street, driveway, and yard? Or the ash all over the the car?
CodeWarrior
The asshats who decide they are going to set off a fucking mortar three days early in the middle of the god damned night and the thing explodes right near my office with no fucking preamble or warning. I, an Army vet of Afghanistan, nearly had a fucking heart attack, and insane rage kicked in instantly.
CoachMcgurl
Honestly it's suddenly knowing a bunch of people with the nickname "stumpy". One dude tried going by "fingerblaster" but that didn't last long. I've also heard Nubbins used.
ClikeX
Dutch person here. Just read about 20 burned down cars in Utrecht alone, at least 17 eye related injuries in Rotterdam eye hospital, several other serious injuries, and a dead 14yo kid. According to doctor's this was a regular New Year's Eve compared to previous years.
"It's such a fun tradition, you can't take it away!"
Z0op
I thought a lot of fireworks rules got more strict, less towns that even “allow” it anymore.
But they had a record sale this of fireworks this year.
I said allow in quotation marks, because it matters shit if the police aint enforcing it.
Theyve been blowing up things for 2 weeks now. During the day, and all sorta of illegal heavy shit like cobras and whatnot
I dont think the anti fireworks measures are working
ClikeX
Hard to enforce anyway, by the time police are on the scene of an explosion the kids will be long gone. And there are too many blasts during the day for the police to be everywhere at once. They had plenty of arrests, though. So it's not like they aren't enforcing.
vandude9090
for what?, two days a year?
netutoring
Way more out in the suburbs and rural areas.
RawChicken
The very existence of them. They cause a lot of animal death and pollution just so people can go 'ooh pretty lights' for a few minutes. Humans need to get a fucking grip.
PaintinBnnuys
Okay, Karen.
PaintinBnnuys
"Humans need to get a grip" reads exactly the same as "Everyone is the problem except for me."
qwertdeep
Domestic cats cause a lot more damage to wildlife than fireworks, like orders of magnitude more
RawChicken
You... you're really going to try and justify our choice to pollute for the sake of a pop and some pretty lights against a predators natural instinct? Which is also the responsibility of the human pet owners or the people taking on pets they shouldn't?
Our choice, our responsibility.
RawChicken
Also cats don't kill horses and cows or leave chemicals beyond their own shit and piss so...
AnotherMeetingWithHR
My neighborhood has sounded like a war zone for like 3 straight hours and obviously went nuts at midnight. Glad I don’t have dogs. People really blowing some money on fireworks this year
PineappleLoopsBroether
It’s going to be a garbage year, these people are brainless halfwits.
WrongUn
We have a dog, he had a terrifying time, poor fucker. I love a firework display, but why every cunt with a box of matches thinks they have to fire rockets off in a middle of a housing estate and then keep it going till 1am is beyond me. Like, use your fucking heads, you absolute dick helmets
honda4wssi9
It gets so bad during the 4th of July in my neighborhood that my wife and I hide in the basement or leave. She's got ptsd from surviving Operation Just Cause, so she gets flashbacks, and I've been in the military since forever, so the one-off mortars over my house set me off.
GermanSausagesAreTheWurst
The 4th is louder, but New Years is more dangerous. A stray bullet came scarily close to my window a few years ago, so I always get more nervous on New Years Eve. I was thinking about going the basement last night, but it wasn't as bad as previous years
Twrecks123
People started setting them off on the 23rd and haven’t stopped since.
Kestrel21
Damn, that late? I knew we entered December when I started hearing fireworks. (I wish I was exaggerating)
shutupthisisreal
started mid-November over here