“Be proud of your country! Wave your flag! Come back with all your extremities where they belong!”
Once again, that time of year is upon us when every red-blooded American remembers the people that made this country great, fought for our freedom, died for our freedom, and perhaps did a combination of all of these. To honor these individuals, we celebrate Independence Day, which recognizes our independence from England. And in celebration, we as Americans do a lot of things. We wave flags, we get the day off of work and school, we attend parades, and we set off fireworks. Which brings me to my point. Fireworks are about the most hazardous thing we do on the Fourth of July. We set fire to flammable objects on purpose and watch them blow up, and call it entertainment. And sadly to say, people aren’t always careful when setting off their fireworks. So as I stressed in 2001, and in 2002 with the exact same quote (I ran a repeat quote – so sue me), let’s make sure that we wake up on the morning of July 5 with all of our body parts where they belong by being careful. Now I do believe that at least some fireworks should be legal. Making some stuff legal reduces the temptation to do something illegal. Why travel out to West Virginia when you can get legal stuff down the street? But even with the stuff that is legal, you still have to be careful, since fire is hot, and just because it’s legal doesn’t mean its completely safe. All in all, though, have a great Fourth of July, we here at The Schumin Web want you to come back in one piece.
Date posted: July 1, 2003