The 4th Brought Out the Best and the Worst in People

Another Independence Day has come and gone and with it another round of Fourth of July celebrations featuring cookouts and fireworks. Unfortunately, the holiday also brought out the worst in some people.  

For instance nationally, ABC 7 TV in Chicago reports that 82 people were shot, 15 fatally, in the Windy City over the holiday weekend. Following a large fireworks display in Cincinnati, a large brawl broke out in the downtown area that left several people injured including two police officers who were trying to break up the fight.

In Calais, Maine a 22-year-old man died after placing a fireworks motor tube on his head and ignited it. It exploded, killing him instantly, according to the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Nothing as ridiculous as that occurred in our area although there were quite a few disrespectful people who for some reason felt that shooting off fireworks at midnight would be better than doing so at a more reasonable time of 9:30 or 10. Oh, I guess they thought that they were the only ones who live in those neighborhoods. I digress.

I did not make it to the Illinois Veteran's Home Saturday for the major fireworks display. I heard they were wonderful. I did drive about 4 blocks from the facility and decided not to even try to deal with the mass of humanity there. My question for those of you who went is, did you enjoy the experience? Is there something the organizers can do better to make next year's experience better?

By the way, in case you were wondering, I recently wrote on our website that the "Fireworks Need to Return to the Riverfront". I still feel that way but our recent poll showed that 58% of respondents favor the Veteran's Home. 40% prefer the Riverfront and 2% voted other.