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Post by orionsrose on Jul 4, 2023 19:15:07 GMT
I know lots of people really love fireworks and that's great. They are exciting and pretty. But for a lot of us they remind us of trauma and terrify our pets.
I just came across this article and I thought it was worth sharing just as another perspective on the various people around us and how we can be more compassionate towards them.
I wish all Americans a safe and happy 4th of July. Cheers Mate
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Post by lurkercat on Jul 4, 2023 21:28:02 GMT
Fireworks really do act as different triggers based on one's experiences. One memory that sticks out in my mind was not actually for July 4th, but was when Washington DC celebrated the end of Desert Storm way back in 1991(?). There was a big military parade in D.C. and the government brought in a bunch of military equipment and displayed it on the National Mall. What an odd juxtaposition to capture in a single camera shot a Patriot missile launcher with the U.S. Capitol in the background....and a children's carousel inbetween. And how odd to see gleeful tourists clamoring all over that equipment, climbing up and posing on it. There was a flyover of all the military aircraft that had participated in the war. Must admit I loved that, since I'd written software for many of those aircraft, but had never seen most of them "in person". That night there was a big fireworks display & I had really mixed emotions realizing how jarring it was to see how differently we were responding to the bursts, compared to how civilians caught up in the war must have felt for rockets and explosions going off near them and destroying their homes and towns. Really changed how I've viewed fireworks since, though they are quite beautiful...if one can ignore how destructive such things are in less peaceful times.
The U.S. has been really fortunate that our oceans have protected us from fighting any recent wars on our own soil. Sadly, I think, that makes war seem more "benign" and less impactful here, perhaps easier to get into or conversely, makes us less likely to react and help victims. Hard not to think of the Ukrainians this year and how different rocket bursts are to them.
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Post by orionsrose on Jul 5, 2023 1:21:08 GMT
That's an interesting perspective you had during that experience lurkercat, thank you for sharing. It really gave you a lot to think about, it sounds like. I've always found celebrations like the one you've described an odd juxtaposition also...remnants and instruments of war and suffering alongside fair food and children's rides/entertainment. What a strange world. Yes, I was thinking a lot about Ukrainians and other refugees from warring countries too, and how they must feel about these displays and sounds. It must be hard to separate celebrations from fearful sounds. Personally, I don't like fireworks because when I was young, a house near us burned down due to fireworks being shot at it one Halloween, and then when I was older, living somewhere different, we had some horrible bullying neighbors who liked to shoot them at our house on Halloween/New Years/Canada Day...it was just too scary. Plus, now I have a dog that is terrified of sounds like that so I don't like seeing her so upset.
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