Ooooh, Aaaaah, Pretty
Posted: Sun 6 November, 2005 Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Thoughts 2 Comments »Despite the fact I was born on November 5th, and thus kind of see fireworks as something special, I have to also admit that every year I like them less and less. I still don’t feel I’ve had a birthday until I’ve seen a proper fireworks display – on one memorable occasion that didn’t actually happen ’til December – but with every year I believe less and less that fireworks should be sold to the public.
The season for fireworks now seems untenable long – particularly when, as we do, you have pets who seriously don’t like fireworks. It appears to start at the beginning of October, and really go on, admittedly slightly sporadically, ’til mid January. And that’s too long.
As I’ve said in previous years, I believe that fireworks should be withdrawn from public sale. They simply shouldn’t be on sale in shops – simple as that. The only people allowed to purchase fireworks should be qualified people, and instead fireworks displays should be public events, organised and done safely.
Yes, there’s still the potential for accidents, but I’d rather that that potential for accidents happened in an environment where there are already people from St John Ambulance, first-aiders, or whatever, along with all the proper extinguishing equipment in easy reach, rather than the current events where accidental injuries (and not-so-accidental ones) happen in suburban gardens, or on streets where some dopey little fucker has thought it’ll be a good idea to throw a lit firework through a letterbox, or at someone on the street, or to chuck them into pubs.
In fact, I believe that the public displays should be funded at least partially by local authorities, who would be able to get money from national government. Where would the money come from? Well, all of a sudden there wouldn’t need to be any firework safety adverts on TV – I’d guess that there’s a fair amount of money spent there, for instance.
So yes – much as I love them (and much as Herself hates them) I’d like to see them utterly banned from sale to the public, along with suitable fines/punishments for any unlicensed person in possession of a firework.
I think it’d make a lot more sense, and allow everyone to celebrate Guy Fawkes (and just how fucked up is it to celebrate a terrorist, let alone a failed one?), Diwali, or whatever, safely, in public, without the nightly risks of walking the streets and coming across some stupid little bastard with an explosive device and a lighter…
Um, I rather think Guy Fawkes night celebrates the failure of the terrorist, rather than the terrorist himself. The first bonfires were lit in joy that King James I was still alive. Hence why we burn ol’ Guido in effigy, I would surmise.
I’m afraid that does not make sense. How can it not be a celebration of a terrorist? The fireworks are meant to represent the blowing up of parliment, ie, what it would have looked like if he had got away with it. It may be harmless fun for some, and whilst I don’t want to ruin any ones fun, when it comes to monday the 7th and they are still going off, it becomes a serious piss take. Especially if you have animals that need sedating or who make themselves ill with the anxiety . All I ask for is a little respect and a little peace and quiet so now that you have had your fun so that my dog will go out after dark for a pee in my garden without shaking, can eat her tea at night without choking when one goes off without warning and does not have to be sedated so that she doesn’t pee on the floor, squeal, bark, charge around the house and hide under the bed trembling.