You can tell the Fourth of July is drawing near because peaceful summer nights are once again being disturbed by fireworks explosions generated by self-centered cretins.
Now, if people want to literally light their money on fire by purchasing overpriced fireworks, that’s fine with me.
It’s a free country and folks are free to be as dumb as they want just as I am free to judge their stupidity in my column.
I don’t care for fireworks, so I don’t feel the need to throw away hundreds of dollars on them, but that doesn’t mean I wish to stop others from doing so.
What upsets me is the flagrant disregard for the law and the right of others to not have their peace and quiet shattered by window-rattling explosions that give one a taste of what it must be like to have a tank battalion as a neighbor.
Michigan law allows fireworks? lovers to light their fuses at will on the day before, the day of and the day after the Fourth of July as well as the other nine national holidays.
That’s a total of 30 days that folks are free to risk blowing off fingers, damaging eardrums and losing an eye or two.
Thank goodness healthcare is free, right?
I have absolutely no issue with shooting off fireworks on July 3-5 because that’s the time period during which I normally expect to hear a multitude of booms, screams and whistles coming from all directions.
However, I do not expect, nor do I wish, to hear all this noise pollution filling the air night after night when Independence Day is still two weeks away. My wife and I started hearing them on either June 17 or 18 and there were a ton of explosions Saturday night.
‘Saturday night was terrible,? said Oxford Fire Chief Pete Scholz. ‘Saturday night, I think (there were) graduation parties all over the place and everybody was letting them go.?
Both Oxford Township and Village have ordinances that strictly PROHIBIT the use of consumer-grade fireworks without a permit during the 335 days not specifically mentioned in the 2012 state law that legalized things such as Roman candles, bottle rockets and aerial shells.
I asked Scholz if any fireworks permits had been handed out for the aforementioned days.
‘I have no knowledge of any permits being pulled. I didn’t sign off on any nor did I see any applications,? he replied.
Basically, if you don’t have a permit and it’s not one of the 30 days listed in the state law, you cannot legally shoot off fireworks in Oxford, period.
It’s not to hard to understand. Even those who have more money than brains or manners should be able to grasp this.
But you see most, not all, of the people who frequent the fireworks tents are the type who really don’t care about others.
They don’t care about their neighbors. They don’t care about the law. They don’t care about who they’re bothering or the pets they’re stressing out.
All they know is, much like small, hyperactive children, they want to make lots of noise. Entertaining themselves is their only priority, everyone else be damned.
I don’t particularly care if these dullards are offended by this column. Why should I? They don’t care about me or you.
Normally, I’m a big believer in letting people do their own thing when it comes to making themselves happy be it smoking, drinking, eating, owning a gun, worshipping God (or not), expressing themselves or marrying whoever they wish without the interference of government.
That’s why it’s so great to live in the Land of the Free. We’re pretty much free to do whatever we want in the pursuit of our happiness just so long as it doesn’t infringe on someone else’s rights or property.
And that’s the way it should be.
But I also believe there are times when we should temper our personal freedom with our responsibility to be considerate and respectful of others ? particularly our neighbors. Restraint is a virtue.
If folks took the time to exercise a little more common courtesy and a lot more common sense, this old world would be a much better place. We don’t need more intrusive laws, meddling politicians or do-gooding activists. We only need to be more polite and thoughtful as individuals.
We are individuals born with free will and living in a free society, but that does not mean we should constantly act without considering how our deeds will impact others. We’re not castaways living on little deserted islands.
We live in communities. As such, we need to act like neighbors, not nuisances.
To all you fireworks lawbreakers out there, remember this the next time you feel the need to satisfy your childish and selfish impulses by filling the air with your annoying racket.
If 30 days of explosions per year just isn’t enough for you, move to the Middle East ? you’ll have a blast.