It’s almost 2 am and I’m in bed and I still keep hearing pop pop boom outside. Is it that fun? Seriously. Also, what’s a better sub for this kind of post? Inb4 mastodon.
Explosives were fascinating when I was, like, 10 years old. Now, as an adult, they’re just stupid, but we have an ever-growing population of people who derive their sense of self-worth from producing maximally loud, obnoxious, pathetic spectacles (think street-racers, coal-rollers, rap-blasters to name a few), so there you have it. When you’re a nobody and have no attributes that anyone would look up to, well, at least you can force people to pay attention to you and do it on the cheap (important because you’re poor). Boom boom pop pop.
people yelling at their mobile phone set to speaker while in public
After rejoining a gym recently (had been away ~5yrs) I was astonished to find people doing this right there in the weight room. Blabbing away, having personal conversations at high volume mere feet from all the other paying customers who are just trying to concentrate on their workouts. I’d seen the signs on the wall asking people NOT to do this and take their phone conversations elsewhere, but of course those rules are for OTHER people, not for precious entitled blabbermouths.
Spot on, mate! I can’t stand them. Ultranationalism, harmful to the environment, poor air quality and noise pollution. Not good for the animals or anything really, a huge waste.
And nowadays, more and more just another “let’s own the Libs” childish pedantic fucking bully-mindset.
I get this, but even as the op here, I do want to say I’m not saying any of these things you brought up are invalid ways to exist in a shared public space. People who “rap blast” as you say - what about rock or metal? What about country or electronic music? What if I am blasting the theme from Katamari Damacy at the gas station and genuinely enjoying myself?
I question the amusement levels of these explosions. But I have to disagree with some of this other stuff, which is valid in a public space albeit could be considered annoying in a similar way.
My friend, OP is the one who brought the genre up. I was reminded of this: https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/crime/2016/11/17/michael-dunn-convicted-killing-17-year-old-after-telling-teen-turn-down-rap-music/15732203007/
I don’t like them one bit. Pollute the environment, make unnecessary noise, and are dangerous.
Yes they are
I like a professionally organized fireworks display - one where the town/organizer gives people plenty of notice, trained professionals conduct the display while sober, and emergency services are on standby.
I do not like the idea of an untrained person putting on their own fireworks display. They might have been drinking, there might be kids or pets nearby, they may not know what precautions to take. This negatively impacts neighborhoods when kids and people on alternative work shifts cannot get the rest that they need, pets become anxious, there is no designated start and stop time.
The environmental impact is also worth discussing. Burning copious amounts of chemicals will release fumes which are bad for the atmosphere and can very quickly impact people with medical issues like asthma. At least professionals clean up after themselves; often, people who put on their own shows tend to leave the waste wherever it lands.
Is it that fun?
Yes. Sorry. I only have 1 or 2 days a year where I can legally blow stuff up.
For July 4, yeah. But doing it at midnight on New Years is important to a lot of people.
OK. Midnight on New Years is fine too. Let’s just not do it at 2am at any time of the year.
Welp, depends on where you live. When I was growing up in New England it was illegal to set off fireworks if you weren’t a licensed pro. Illegal to buy/own them too AFAIK. Here in WA you can buy them on NA reservations but AFAIK it’s still illegal to set them off. But of course, the yahoos do it anyway and it seems to get worse and worse every year - more, bigger, louder, and for days on end. And all this while the climate gets drier and drier and more fire-prone.