Ask Dave and Luke: How bad are fireworks, really?

(Background story: News anchor Ursula found out her son
went with his friends to Boom City to buy a bunch of
fireworks over the weekend. Now he wants to go over to his
friend’s house on the Fourth of July to shoot them off.
Ursula is very nervous about it and told her nearly 16-
year-old son to read a few articles about the dangers of
fireworks, but she doesn’t think it’s going to work. Is
she a bad parent to leave the decision up to her son?)

Anita of Lynnwood writes…

Ursula, I raised two boys. I love fireworks from a
distance, hate them up close. At 16, your boy has already
made huge decisions on his own involving sex and drinking.
He will continue to make more and more decisions on his
own. Cross your fingers, say a prayer and turn him loose.
There is always a potential of something bad happening to
your kid. Just hope it doesn’t happen to your kid.

Ursula: After our earlier conversation, I
called my
husband and said ‘That’s it, you have to be there.’ We’re
just
going to have to come up with a compromise. I hate
fireworks up close. I love the Fourth
of July show over Lake Union. That’s awesome, but I don’t
want to be anywhere near them. I think we need to come up
with a compromise and I appreciate my son’s honesty, but I
want him to live with all of his fingers.

Luke: The way that our society has evolved to hate
fireworks is a massive victory for women. It almost
always breaks down along gender lines because for whatever
reason, fireworks appeal to young boys and old boys, if
you’re me. Women typically, not always, aren’t into
fireworks. This represents a major victory for the
feminine kind in our society.

More comments on fireworks…

Jeff writes…

I still get the chills (in a bad way) when I think back on
my youthful fireworks escapades. My stupid friends and I
would throw m80’s out of the window of my car. I held
them, while driving, and he lit them. They have tiny
fuses. As soon as it was lit, I would quickly flick it out
the window. I could have easily fumbled it in my rush and
dropped it it my lap, leading to a future career as a
Castrato. In my view, teenage boys and explosives are a
bad mix.

Linda in Seattle writes…

Per Sunday’s Seattle Times, the fireworks for the
Bainbridge and Poulsbo fireworks shows that were being
stored in a storage unit in Belfair, blew up sometime over
the weekend. The story reported that the blast was heard
around the Sound. No details about the cause. A concrete
example to bring home to Ursula’s son just how powerful
and dangerous fireworks are. She is up against the belief
of young people that they are immortal and that “it won’t
happen to me.” Good luck.

Ken writes…

Ursula should have her son go to Dave’s house. It would
be legal and Dave would make sure they had such an un-fun
time that it would probably cure him of ever doing
fireworks again. Ever.