Well I guess folks that drive 75, or 80 down the freeway don't think of themselves as "Law breakers" either. Easy to bash the other guy for his transgressions, and consider ones own as justifiable. Might be some wisdom in the idea to "Leave em alone".
Sorry if it sounded like I was being a hypocrite, I wasn’t clear enough on my part. I used to play with firecrackers in the park and in my own backyard when they weren’t banned in this city. After they were banned, we’d commonly make the drive north to places where they weren’t banned yet like Native American reservation lands or Mercer Island and purchase/light them there legally.
People here still light firecrackers on the 4th despite the (admittedly stupid) law. One of my neighbors has young children and on the 4th, they’ll light fountains and those buzzing flower things on their own property or in the street. I have no issues with that at all. The intent there is a lot different than people throwing lit explosives on your property and speeding off
What does sitting in foxholes in Iraq have anything to do with kids tossing firecrackers at your doorstep? The same insane logic involved with that would come up with these following gems:
“Getting robbed is better than being in a foxhole in Iraq.”
“Getting audited is better than being in a foxhole in Iraq”
With that mentioned, I hardly think it’s a bunch of innocent 6th grade kids who didn’t know wrong from right. Last time I looked, the minimum unrestricted legal driving age in Washington was 18, or 16+ with heavy regulations. We have strict and tight driving regulations for young drivers (thanks to Tracy Eide). For those 16 years of age but not yet 18:
• For the first 6 months, drive with no passengers under the age of 20 unless they are members of the immediate family.
• For the remaining period, drive with no more than 3 passengers under the age of 20.
• Do not drive between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. unless with a licensed driver age 25 or older. Driving for agricultural purposes is an exception to the late night hours driving restriction.
So this leads me to three reasonable conclusions:
-a bunch of kids under the age of 16 illegally heisted a car and drove around throwing explosives
-a bunch of 16-18 year old kids violating the Intermediate Driver License Program laws and in addition throwing explosives
-or they’re all at least 18 years of age…hardly fancy-free grade school children looking to have some fun Last time I checked, you’re responsible for your actions at the age of 18.
Recalling this story also reminds me of several odd incidences I’ve seen. I want to say that it’s the same people but I have no clue who they are or where they live…but they’ve seemingly turned this street into the proving grounds for their antics. My home is located on a 90 degree bend in the road. One day I hear this rumbling screeching sound. I dismiss it as construction machinery. The next few minutes, it gets progressively louder and louder. By this time, it’s so loud, I figure it has to be coming down the blind corner outside so I peek out of the window and what do I see? A black Dodge Neon completely missing one rear tire, on bare rim, scraping the rim along the asphalt as it careens around the corner, rear end riding up onto the sidewalk of my neighbors home since it had no grip at all, barely missing the mailboxes, scrapes right down past the sidewalk of my home, and down the street. There was a lead car and a chase car along with it!
The shenanigans that happens here is so random and that it’d be impossible to get the police out here to catch them in the process or beforehand. The response time is also dire unless you’re in the process of being murdered. It took 3 hours to get an officer out here for a burglary (not in progress albiet). I'm sure a lot more craziness has ensued while I was at work, and I'm happy I've missed out on that.
Hell, I'm 23 and I intend to light firecrackers every 4th of July for many years to come. I look forward to the day when my biggest worry is firecrackers on the lawn.
