Thread: OT - Fireworks?
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Old July 2nd 11, 02:42 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Lesley[_4_]
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Default OT - Fireworks?

On Jul 1, 3:07*pm, "CatNipped" wrote:


What do you think? *Should city-run fireworks be banned also, or allowed?


In the UK in my time (centuries) things have changed a lot on the
fireworks front. When I was a kid city run displays were rare and
most people had a bonfire etc in their back gardens on November the
5th. Even "organised" displays were quite amateur like the one in a
local church that let my youngest brother who was about 6 at the time
light Roman candles (he wondered what would happen if he put a lit
one on it's side and caused a mass panic). As kids we'd save our
pocket money for weeks and the local sweetshop would sell them...yes
they'd quite happily hand over what amounts to an incidenary device
(and we all susbscribed to the belief that the brighter and/or louder
it went BANG the better it was) to small children. We all used to
lust after the big boxes of them and hope our parents really loved us
enough for the "Standard Fireworks Big Party Box"! (and yes, they did
pack fireworks in cardboard boxes! Dad used to have an old biscuit
tin in the shed and all fireworks went in there and he was very
careful that the lid only came off to take them out and went straifght
back on- none of you will be suprised that every October there were
masses of public service annoucements showing burn victims to remind
us to be careful)

I'm getting a bad case of nostalgia here.....the morning after the air
reeked of fireworks and us kids would go round hunting for the empty
cases to see who could find the most... but apart from November the
5th no-one ever lit fireworks.

These days very few people hold Bonfire Night parties in their gardens
but there are loads of big council run displays. A kid could not
purchase a firework and anyway only a few specialist shops stock them
they aren't displayed in a glass cabinet next to the sweets any,more.
However they are now lit more often than once a year- we used to have
near neighbours (down the short side street next to the house) who set
them off on every possible occasion- New Year 2004 was like living in
a war zone- our New Year's Eve party for a couple of years went
outside about 5 to midnight and stood on the corner watching their
display (And it was quite spectaculary garish!). The first year
Dunzi (RB- God that hurts!) and Sarsi seemed fascinated and watched
them out the window but they didn't bother after that

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furball