fireworks!

Matt reminded me of how much fun it is to hear all the public service commercials about fireworks safety while driving here in Richmond. "Your friends at [insert company name] care about your safety, and urge you to use caution while blowing stuff up in your front yard, or in the street, or your roof... really, wherever you idiots are blowing them off. Unless you're the creep up the road from me who shoots them off at 2am, in which case you can go ahead and blow your hand off." Something like that. My favorite one was from the local Harley dealer- there's no law here that motorcyclists must wear helmets, so the Harley dealership ought to have larger safety concerns in mind than sparkler accidents. Perhaps people are shooting fireworks while riding motorcycles without helmets... this really wouldn't suprise me much.

If a similar commercial aired in New York, it would sound more like this: "This is friendly reminder from [insert company name] that the state knows that you are an idiot, and has therefore strictly regulated the fireworks trade so that the already overfull emergency rooms aren't stretched beyond their limits. Yes, this means that the fireworks you smuggled in from Indiana last year were illegal, and they would have totally busted you for holding your own fireworks show if they hadn't been busy chasing the drunken rednecks down at the lake. No, arguing that the state laws are made by a bunch of socialists from the city will not cause the judge to revoke your fines. The regulators know what's best for you, so just have a pleasantly boring 4th, OK?"

All of which reminds me of Michael Bérubé's post on evaluating personal freedoms. Personally, I'd rather live in Indiana with the helmetless bikers than take my chances with getting busted in New York for possessing fireworks. I don't have children, though- perhaps I'd appreciate the regulators more if I had kids to worry about.