...another eleven months away almost so this was a poorly planned prompt, alliteration or not. This year is would have gone by with absolutely no fanfare if our fireworks loving neighbors hadn't taken care of changing that fact for us.
I grew up with large parties on the 4th, not because my family is specifically patriotic (I don't think at least), but because they like a good party and everyone happens to have the 4th off. These parties were huge and lasted all day in my backyard and I really disliked them. Sure, they were fun to start, everyone was in a good mood, I got to help acquire large blocks of ice from the ice store in town (yeah, there was a business that just sold ice in town, how do you buy ice now? I guess from a convenience store). As the day progressed folks would become less jovial and people would be more apt to argue. I wasn't a simple child, I knew why this was happening; alcohol.
The Fourth of July as a celebration of America and her freedom's has long been an excuse for people to get drunk and shoot off fireworks. Sure, there are still small town parade's and some folks really take these seriously. Most people who don't have children though tend to skip these a congregate around an almost equally recognizable symbol of America, a bottle of Budweiser. According to InfoScan (a data collection agency), more beer is purchased on the Fourth than any other holiday (including Super Bowl Sunday). And get this priceless quote from none other than the guy who profits from that;
"Independence Day is the perfect time to celebrate America's rich brewing tradition and the economic contributions that helped build our nation," said August A. Busch IV, president and chief executive officer, Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.. (this is a quote from an article that can be found HERE).
How patriotic.
I get it, folks like beer. Do you also like freedom? The excuse to act in a manner unbecoming and credit it to the freedom you have here in America is absurd. People in every country get drunk and act a fool, it's not a patriotic American thing to do and it certainly doesn't have anything to do with the reason we have that holiday.
I'd rather the Fourth of July be a little bit more like Memorial Day as I believe we don't spend enough time really taking a look at the folks who literally give their lives for our country. So I say let's not raise a glass for them in eleven months, let's learn about them, let's make their family a thank you card, let's meet as communities and just have an open discussion about what freedom means to us and talk about how it's changed and what our responsibilities are in this modern world.
Oh, what's that, you missed that last part? Oh, I see, you were in the kitchen, grabbing a beer.