You just KNEW I was going to "critique" yesterday's "celebratory" antics on the south side of Fort Wayne for SO many reasons. Now I like a good celebration as much as the next guy, but there seems to be a very thin line between having a good time and just plain acting stupid in this regard. Sadly, too many people either staggered across that line, fell over it, ran passed it, or just didn't even bother to look for that line. Something we USED to call PERSONABLE RESPONSIBILITY is about as RARE down here as finding ONE SINGLE BLOCK full of WORKING people...you just "ain't gonna find no such animal"!
When we declared our freedom back in 1776, there was GOOD reason to celebrate. We had created a NATION unto itself, owing to ourselves, endowed with liberties and freedoms granted by our creator. And that was reason enough to go out and shoot off your rifle or set off fireworks. You were FREE from oppression...FREE from England's rule.
While it is nice to remember that day with celebration, there are so many ways OTHER than JUST annoying other people who DO know the difference between responsibility and stupidity.
While it is nice to remember that day with celebration, there are so many ways OTHER than JUST annoying other people who DO know the difference between responsibility and stupidity.
Let's take this current fireworks "law" (please), which if I were to "grade" it, I'd have to give it a resounding *F*! This was a FARCE at BEST and nothing less than SHEER IDIOCY at it's WORST. We have SEVENTEEN damn days to play around with dangerous crap that the city and county have made available to everyone. Better to hand out some guns and let the mayhem commence, eh? Oh wait, we've ALREADY got that situation down here! The problem lies with their inability to shoot each other fast enough, though. Hey, I'm all for shooting courses.
We had "people" (for lack of a better word) IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAMN INTERSECTIONS setting off all kinds of aerial ordnance (in plain violation of the new law) and it took a call to the FWPD to get them to stop (actually, they stopped right AFTER I made the call...must be that "community scanner" they all listen to).
And this went on with reckless abandon until after 2AM.
How could I describe this so that YOU can appreciate the nuances of it all?
Was it like the 135th anniversary re-enactment of PICKETT'S CHARGE?
Was it like the GREEN ZONE in Baghdad on a busy night?
Maybe it was more like the TET OFFENSIVE back in 1968?
No, no, no....it was JUST like the GUNNERY RANGES when they dial in the mortars and other assorted artillery.
Yeah...that's it!
Screw the fact that we have trees and foliage that are so damn dry from lack of rainfall. Forget the fact that people are DRIVING along the streets where these idiots were setting off fireworks. And don't worry about all the solid and incendiary crap raining down from the sky (from explosive aerials) like some Biblical curse in Old Testament Egypt! No one takes into account that some morons will do anything to make life miserable for others, and yet we allow legislation OF them AND their behavior into our society with great zeal. We give them carte blanche to act in a manner that is detrimental to our society and this nation. These same idiots also (unfortunately) drive cars, buy alcohol, take controlled substances, and otherwise make what little bit of life the rest of us are allowed seem like a long-term stay in Hades. That's just not fair.
But we DO have to "celebrate", right?
I have been doing a tally of ordnance being detonated around my area, and I would say (conservatively) that over several THOUSAND dollars worth of fireworks has been expended PER NIGHT over the past week! And in many cases, the same people were doing this EVERY night, which means that somehow, they got a $hitload of money to waste. We're talking the "mortar round" type of fireworks, and not all those cheap-ass "lady-finger" firecrackers we hear all the time. Where the f$ck DO these people (who don't work, live in HUD rentals and have no "income" to speak of) get ALL this money for ALL this $hit anyway? Must be the same place they get ALL the cash for all those nice, shiny new cars and SUVs, right? Funny...didn't know the city had a place to get FREE MONEY...did you? The rest of us need to get ourselves a few slices from THAT "pie", don't we? I DO know that *we* (my wife and I) sure as hell "could" get us some serious fireworks readily enough, but to what end? It's over in a few seconds, and you're out a hundred or so bucks. Cripes, I can get a better "deal" from some good single malt scotch, AND make it last a LOT longer. Plus, I don't feel the need to intimidate or terrorize the neighbors, as some people do. I'd much rather opt to let the pyrotechnic PROS provide entertainment for me (and for free as well).
I have been doing a tally of ordnance being detonated around my area, and I would say (conservatively) that over several THOUSAND dollars worth of fireworks has been expended PER NIGHT over the past week! And in many cases, the same people were doing this EVERY night, which means that somehow, they got a $hitload of money to waste. We're talking the "mortar round" type of fireworks, and not all those cheap-ass "lady-finger" firecrackers we hear all the time. Where the f$ck DO these people (who don't work, live in HUD rentals and have no "income" to speak of) get ALL this money for ALL this $hit anyway? Must be the same place they get ALL the cash for all those nice, shiny new cars and SUVs, right? Funny...didn't know the city had a place to get FREE MONEY...did you? The rest of us need to get ourselves a few slices from THAT "pie", don't we? I DO know that *we* (my wife and I) sure as hell "could" get us some serious fireworks readily enough, but to what end? It's over in a few seconds, and you're out a hundred or so bucks. Cripes, I can get a better "deal" from some good single malt scotch, AND make it last a LOT longer. Plus, I don't feel the need to intimidate or terrorize the neighbors, as some people do. I'd much rather opt to let the pyrotechnic PROS provide entertainment for me (and for free as well).
But we STILL DO have to "celebrate", right?
A good celebration should have good friends, good food and drink, and a pleasant time had by all....NOT some cacophonous hilljack radio station blaring, or some dumbass hip-hop crap thumping our walls from their foundations. A good celebration is NOT about how LOUD you can be...it should be about good memories you can cherish for years. It should NOT be about who got falling down drunk first and pissed themselves. It SHOULD be about camaraderie between people.
A good celebration should have good friends, good food and drink, and a pleasant time had by all....NOT some cacophonous hilljack radio station blaring, or some dumbass hip-hop crap thumping our walls from their foundations. A good celebration is NOT about how LOUD you can be...it should be about good memories you can cherish for years. It should NOT be about who got falling down drunk first and pissed themselves. It SHOULD be about camaraderie between people.
It's much akin to the founding fathers...their loyalty to the concept of founding a nation, to each other, and to the people they would represent. It wasn't about how LOUD they could be, was it?
So many people nowadays have just plain missed the boat.
Hell, they're so frigging landlocked, it's not even funny!
We do have the unalienable right to PURSUE happiness, NOT wrest it AWAY from others.
(I wonder if G.I Joe's on Wells St. has a sale on PAS/G headgear?)
2 comments:
Even though I was only able to watch 1/3 of it, the fireworks last night here at Fort Knox was wonderful.
:)
There were A LOT of people coming onto post here last night. They assigned a lot of extra soldiers at the entry gates and they checked EVERY SINGLE VEHICLE thouroughly, whether you were a soldier or not. They meant business. So, nobody got on post with liquor.
They also had a lot of MPs driving around on ATVs where people were parked, making sure they didn't cause trouble. They throw anyone into jail if they make the slightest infraction.
Too bad the public police can't be that serious, eh?
See...A LITTLE more "martial law" (albeit on post) is a lot more effective than a LOT more police that can't enforce a law, can't target ethnics in ethnic areas, and cannot fully control the territory they are sworn to protect.
I'm not smacking down the FWPD (or any police force)...they can't be everywhere without the ever-watchful eyes of the NAACP and the ACLU.
We "could have" bike patrols down here, or even some sort of ATVs. Hell, we don't even have 2 officers in cars any more (that I can see anyway).
((And I wouldn't take on several huge, honking MPs...not on a dare!))
INCREASED prescence means DECREASED crime.
It's that simple.
;)
B.G.
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