3 Unpatriotic Things People do to Celebrate the 4th of July

The 4th of July is the day we set aside to celebrate our independence. No holiday is more patriotic, right? Sure - in theory. The trouble is, we tend to do some very unpatriotic things around the 4th, all in under in the name of patriotic celebration.

Here are 3 annoying and unpatriotic things people do to celebrate the 4th of July:

1. Using the flag as a pattern to be plastered on anything and everything. There are laws regulating how a flag is to be used and not used. This holiday is full of cheap plastic crap with our nation's flag adorning it - paper/plastic plates and cups, napkins, various clothing items or shoes, plus all manner of party decor items from banners to silly hats, noise makers and straws. Worst of all, you can find our flag pattern on firework packing to be blown up. These days we are very quick to throw that flag pattern on just about anything and call it patriotic fun. Almost all of it is illegal. Don't worry, nobody is paying attention.

2. The vast majority of these at-home fireworks are made in China. Yep, our national holiday of homegrown pride is big business for China. Why are we celebrating our nation's independence by going into our backyards and lighting our Chinese made dangerous explosives that we don't really have any training for or real control over? Even better, our yards, fields, sidewalks and streets then get littered with spent bottle rocket sticks and other such explosive remnants. Nothing says happy birthday nation like littering, right?

3. Perhaps the most unpatriotic thing we do this time of year is actually allowing at-home fireworks at all. Assholes all over the country spend hours drinking and celebrating with family/friends and then, when it starts to get dark, they start setting them off. So from around 9:00pm until about 2:00 or 3:00am (sometimes even later) entire neighborhoods sound like war zones - and this goes on for days. We are like many households across the country, who are negatively impacted by this. For us it's because we have a dog who, like many other pets, is terrified of the booms. But it's not just our beloved pets, but also other wild animals, people with dementia, babies and small children. Still not seeing how this disruption is unpatriotic - what about the war veterans and other victims of violence who are suffering with PTSD? What do you suppose we are putting them through? I firmly believe we don't have the right to torture one another and the animals of this country for our celebrations. Most cities put on a display so if fireworks are required for your holiday celebration then that is the only place it should be allowed.  

These at-home fireworks are actually illegal where we live but that doesn't stop anybody from doing them. They are still sold all over and used all over. We called the police on one house in our neighborhood about 1:30am today but most of the time we can't tell where it's coming from. I feel so helpless to protect our dog from the terror and hubby and myself from the long sleepless nights that accompany this holiday. This is not good for migraines.