Fireworks Still Not Idiot Proof

We once again headed down to the beach club this year to participate in the festivities. I've got no problem with fireworks (I used to love setting them off) but people simply have to be careful, and being careful involves keeping a safe distance away from other people. Thirty feet may seem like a safe distance, but it's not even close. That distance gets covered by a shell or a rocket in a fraction of a second, as we found out when an errant shell from someone's too-close display ended up exploding near the stairs at the beach club, actually hitting Alex's stroller and scaring him out of his mind. My mom reached out and hit it with her hand mid-flight, and it burned her hand a bit. She'll be fine, but every few years we're reminded that there's nothing rude about asking amateur pyrotechnicians to take it down the beach a bit. Why they have to set up so close the crowds is beyond me.