Questions for veterans...others too if they wish..

[ironglows]

 .
  After a few years in the Army..with , machine guns, sub machine guns, Grenades(rifle, hand and 40mm), mortars, TNT charges, primer cord, practice mines, as a tank gunner with not only the explosions on the other end, but also the concussion inside the tank as well as the clatter of brass shells ejected onto the steel floor.

  then there were occasional demolitions to complete.

   Add to that magnesium flare illuminations and many other explosions and "fireworks"..and I just don't enjoy July 4th fireworks.

   Are there any other vets who really don't care for fireworks?  Or are there non-vets who don't want to be bothered with them?
  Perhaps it isn't a veteran's thing, maybe others are just bored by them also..  what say you?

[Lloyd Smale]

when i was younger i loved them. Now i go to bed at 9pm and hate the forth because there going off around here till the wee hours of the morning for 2 days before and even after the forth. Started last night!!

[Land_Owner]

Bored with it all if I am not shooting them.  I like the "WHUMP" when it leaves the tube and the report at altitude.  At the Millennial Celebration, the wife of a friend and I, leaned against pallets on the loading dock of a warehouse, some 150 feet from the City of Tampa hired mortars.  At the beginning, one 6-inch shell rose about 40 feet and detonated, showering us in bright green sparks.  "EXCITING!", I said.  We had a wonderful seat from which to watch after that.

Boredom, excitement, or PTSD goes with the territory and duty to Service performed.  U.S.C.G. service was long, tedious, necessary, adventurous, World View establishing, and safe (by comparison to being shot at).

[ironglows]

.
  Pleased to see I am not alone..some folks just don't "get it", that I am bored by fireworks..

[Ranger99]

Some years back, the state (?) had
placed a ban on the bottle rockets
that were always so common because
of the severe drought we were experiencing
and the fire danger.
Some enterprising someone came
up with a " bottleless " rocket that was
built similar to the model rockets that
hobbyists build and shoot off, in that
they were threaded onto a fixed wire
and launched from that. I'm not really
sure how leaving the little slim stick off
of it made it safer, but apparently it
was enough of an alteration to make
them legal for sale, so there you go.

I bought a bunch of those and several
of us were setting off our toys and
one of the rockets I lit decided it wanted
to burn the fuse really fast and it
blew up right in my face.
It might not have phased me, but
unfortunately these new doodads
were plastic instead of the usual
rolled paper and it blew apart and
stuck plastic splinters in my face
like bristles on a brush.
Through some genuine miracle
of God nothing touched my eyes
at all, but I had many little shrapnel
holes in my cheeks and chin and
forehead. I managed to get all
of it plucked out and wiped off
and I've never ever touched a
firework since.
I figure that was my last and only
second chance

[O-mega]

I like them, specially the large and loud ones.  But the only time I buy them is when the kids, all older, are here.  And when we do go out to see them, it's more about the family experience than the actual fireworks.  Of course I also like to set off the military ones, there is just something satisfying about making things disappear with a loud boom.

[DEACONLLB]

I don't buy them don't excite me, the only thing I like about the fourth is that sometimes the Capital 4th on PBS is really great with some great entertainers, but not always sometime they they only have screamers not singers.

Deaconllb

[ironglows]

I don't buy them don't excite me, the only thing I like about the fourth is that sometimes the Capital 4th on PBS is really great with some great entertainers, but not always sometime they they only have screamers not singers.

Deaconllb

   I have noticed that scenario too, over the last few decades.  Over the years in pop music, we have had soothing voices, such as Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole or Doris day.  We also had strong, forceful voices such as Vaughan Monroe, Paul Robeson or Kate Smith.

   "Country" singers had strong, and soothing voices.. Hank Snow..Jim Reeves...and all were legible..

  Today it seems that pop music is almost all a form of screaming, whether male or female. Often, legibility is in question. Changing taste..or changing psyches ?
 
  Or is it only reflecting the anger which seems to be flowing through our culture in recent years?

[Mule 11]

I enjoy them and even participate. When I’m ready to go to sleep they wake me up. That’s O.K. By me. It’s those that don’t celebrate the 4th for unpatriotic reasons that I don’t care for. God Bless America and long live Independence Day. A Patriots holiday.

[billy_56081]

I love the fireworks the noise the lights and the concussion.  I always enjoyed when they were firing artillery over the top of us and the impacts out in front of us.

[Capt Danger]

Crowds of drunken idiots and loud noises are best appreciated from a distance.  I have seen my share of tracer machine gun rounds, RPG's, mortars, missiles, bombs and the aftermath. So I didn't go to the local fireworks show this weekend but I did spend a few hours at the range. It was uncrowded, just the way I like it.

[Ranger99]

. . but I did spend a few hours at the range. It was uncrowded, just the way I like it.

^ ^ ^ my own self
The last few times I've been to
a public range most everyone was
behaving as if they were preparing
to play parts in a seal team action
movie. ARs with every conceivable
gadget and wearing tactical vests
with a myriad of pouches, etc.
Not that I let any of it get to me,
but if it were me, I'd work on consistent
accuracy before I'd worry about how
fast I could empty and change a
magazine. If you want to play a
role and shoot, have at it
Im happy to be able to punch out
the bullseye

[ironglows]

. . but I did spend a few hours at the range. It was uncrowded, just the way I like it.

^ ^ ^ my own self
The last few times I've been to
a public range most everyone was
behaving as if they were preparing
to play parts in a seal team action
movie. ARs with every conceivable
gadget and wearing tactical vests
with a myriad of pouches, etc.
Not that I let any of it get to me,
but if it were me, I'd work on consistent
accuracy before I'd worry about how
fast I could empty and change a
magazine. If you want to play a
role and shoot, have at it
Im happy to be able to punch out
the bullseye

   ...So long as they don't go bonkers..shooting golf pros, while toting bodies in a pickup truck, while driving around on the greens.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gene-siller-golfer-two-other-men-shot-dead-georgia-course/

[mcbammer]

  I'm just  glad I made it thru my youth with all fingers still attached . Now fireworks is nothing more than money going up in smoke .

[neckisred]

I did a job in a bad neighborhood last night. Had to close off access from a low income apartment complex to the local convenience store. The natives were not happy. Needless to say, the fireworks had me a little on edge.

[Mule 11]

I did a job in a bad neighborhood last night. Had to close off access from a low income apartment complex to the local convenience store. The natives were not happy. Needless to say, the fireworks had me a little on edge.

That’s what ya get for the sacrilege of working on Independence Day... Hope ya made some large coin...

[neckisred]

You know the deal Brother. 

[Land_Owner]

No good deed goes unpunished.

[neckisred]

No good deed goes unpunished.

Agreed. Job had nothing to do with greed/money. This job was for a customer that has been with me from day 1. These days I pass on jobs like this. I've accepted the fact that I'm an old man in a young mans game.