It started around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday night.
A loud banging echoed outside, followed by a cacophony of similar booms.
“What the hell is that?”
Sam and I looked at each other at almost the exact same moment and asked the question.
For the next 15 minutes or so, the incessant, mysterious booming continued on outside from an unknown origin.
I did what any sensible person would do to investigate; I opened up Nextdoor.
And sure enough, the first post on my feed was people asking the same question: “What the hell is that?”
Turns out, members of the Greensboro Country Club decided to set off a bunch of fireworks to celebrate who knows what way after dark had fallen on the city. On a Tuesday night. In the middle of December.
One of my neighbors, who also obviously heard the noise, messaged me to ask if I knew what was going on. She told me that her husband, who was a combat veteran, was shaken.
Of course he was.
Who the hell would expect fireworks to go off on a random weeknight in the middle of the winter? Who thought this was a good idea?
I’ll tell you who: Rich folks who have no care or consideration for other people’s peace of mind; it reeks of privilege.
Oh! Who cares if it’ll be loud? Who cares if no one is expecting it? Who cares if it upsets children, veterans, pets, the unhoused, literally anyone within a 10-mile radius?
Comments on my Facebook noted that someone who was outside of Grandover — Grandover! — more than 13 miles away said they heard the noise.
Two people said that the sound woke up their kids.
But who cares?
We wanted to celebrate! Why should that matter when we, the members of the prestigious country club, the admiration of the city, the adored in the community, want to set off a few measly explosives on a Tuesday night. Who’s to say we can’t?
No matter that people thought it was gunshots, or maybe worse.
Instead they thought it was fine to cause so many people unrest, and at worst, PTSD.
Maybe, the next time you’re thinking about setting off fireworks for 20-plus minutes on a Tuesday night, don’t.
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