Jul 07 2008
Retired Life – Coping with Fireworks
Coping with Fireworks
Three days since July 4th and the fireworks “bangs” and “pops” and “screams” continue to rock our neighborhood.
Our dogs are startled out of their minds. Their hearts must be pounding as they charge to the door or the deck to “challenge” these disturbers of the peace.
I have a very low tolerance for fireworks anyway, and absolutely no tolerance for the people who shoot them off for a week BEFORE the July 4th holiday and for WHO KNOWS? how many days AFTER the holiday.
We live outside of the city limits so fireworks are legal here. There seems to be an unlimited amount of money available to these people to just blow this stuff up endlessly. I don’t understand it; I don’t like it, and there is nothing that can be done about it.
Calls to complain to the Sheriff’s Department yield the typical “We just can’t respond to noise complaints. Fireworks are legal where you live.” (And don’t try calling 911 about fireworks unless there is an injury or a fire, as they do not appreciate the waste of time.) Around here, the City has a special number set up to accept fireworks complaints; that is mostly to divert calls away from 911, I think. The City tries to enforce their own fireworks ban, but with the stuff being sold within 10 feet beyond every city limits sign, it is a lost cause.
I don’t know if we become more sensitive to noise as we get older or not. I know I do NOT like loud music anymore, or loud television, or loud movie theaters, or loud radios in the car next to me. (My God, the THUMPING, THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! makes my entire car shake and makes my heart pound. Even closing all the windows doesn’t block it out. A-holes.)
Am I just a grumpy old man or less tolerant since I retired? No, I think I am just more likely to express myself now. Feels good too. My wife went to the window last night and let out the most blood-curdling scream I’ve ever heard. She just got sick of the way the dogs and cats were so panicky (we could even hear nearby horses who were upset). She was tired of the fireworks and the noise and the A-holes around here and wanted to get it off her chest. A Good Scream does release some build-up, doesn’t it? I am proud of her.
