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Last night, I went to see the fireworks.
The night was festive. Red and blue flags were everywhere. It was a beautiful summer night. The air was crisp. People were jovial. The music was catchy. The Harley engines were loud. The ice cream cones were melty.
There were a lot of people there. I met a few. We had great conversations. Here is what they had to say about fireworks:
The Artist:
I enjoy it when the crowds start gathering in the evening. The Sun is still up, and the sky is blue. The atmosphere is jubilant. I typically go with my family to a state park where vendors sell crafts and food. Live music is usually playing. As the sun starts to set, the sky begins to darken as if preparing a background for the fireworks. People start gathering in the open grounds, their faces turned towards the open sky. Then, the first firework is released, shooting up into the sky. It changes colors, from yellow to blue to green, then red. Finally, it bursts into a giant circle, filling the black background with beautiful colors. This is followed by hundreds of other types of fireworks, each one unique in its trajectory and carrying its own beauty. Some of the fireworks create gorgeous designs in the sky, while others fall to the ground like confetti. The tempo picks up, and there is a grand finale where the pyrotechnician displays his art, just like an opera singer playing her highest note or a painter waving his brush for his final stroke.
The Capitalist:
It seems they spent quite a bit on the fireworks this year, which is surprising. When COVID hit a few years ago, the stock market took a deep plunge and literally wiped out so many people’s lifetime of savings. These fireworks are funded by the county, and they continually complain about having to take austerity measures. They have cut down on our bonuses and now look at the extravagant display of fireworks. It seems like a waste of money. But then, I guess, when you are spending taxpayer dollars, it doesn’t hurt like it hurts when you pay your own money. Each one of these fireworks is worth at least a few hundred dollars, and if they can run the fireworks for twenty minutes, that must have cost easily into six figures. I wish they would lower our taxes instead of trying to keep up with the other counties and blowing up taxpayer money like that into fire.
The Nurse:
There you go. I’m so glad I’m not working in the Emergency Room tonight. We get so many cases of burns and other firework-related injuries on this holiday. You wouldn’t believe how many people set off fireworks in their backyards, despite it being illegal. They travel to different states to purchase them in bulk and then set them off individually. You wouldn’t believe how some people won’t even stop their young kids from handling fireworks. I have seen lost fingers, burnt faces, inhalation injuries, and denuded skin as a result of this childish activity. Once, a group of friends was bringing fireworks in their truck when a spark ignited, and the whole truck caught on fire. The sound of the fireworks was so loud that passers-by thought that they were at a war scene. The people who were brought to the emergency room looked like they had been in a battle, and two of them had to get their limbs amputated. The psych ward gets filled with screams of war veterans who get panicked with the loud sounds reminding them of battle explosions. If it were up to me, I would ban fireworks and trampolines. It’s for the good of the country.
The Drunk:
Why do humans have to show their happiness by lighting fireworks? Is it more of an expression of happiness or a way to release one’s energies? Are the fireworks only to fulfill our senses and give us pleasure, or does this practice in some way feed the soul, too? When a colorful firework was shot into the air for the first time, the sound must have scared the onlookers, and the fire could have burned someone. How many years or centuries did it take for humans to finally tame fire to the point that it is now used as a display of festivity? How different is this from when wild animals are kept in cages in a zoo for humans to show them to their children and rejoice in their misery? But fire is different from animals because fire is not a living creature. In any case, I wonder if it’s ethical for us to participate in this event while there are children around the world who will die tonight of hunger and disease without shelter over their heads. Could these resources be instead redirected towards fighting poverty and misery? But is it really our job to do that? This world was not created fairly, so how can we expect it to be? If that is not true, then tell me why the lion eats the deer out in the jungle. What is the deer’s fault?
July 4, 2022
