Remember, Remember the Fifth of November
Okay, so I'm twenty days late. I can't help it if I'm slow. My excuse is that I didn't even start this blog until a few days ago. The point is that this year the Fifth of November -- or Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night or whatever you want to call it -- was one that I won't forget in a hurry.
I'll start with an explanation of why the British celebrate Bonfire Night in the first place for those of you outside the UK. Once upon a time, Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament, with Parliament and the King in the building. The plot was foiled, the King and Parliament were saved, and now Bonfire Night is a yearly celebration.
As a side note, my American-born oldest son came in from school one Fifth of November really excited because he had a history lesson that day and had learned the significance of the holiday. "Mum, it's because Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the King in the Houses of Prostitutes." I'll never let him live that one down.
Anyway, back to the year 2004. Lots of people go to firework displays or huge bonfires put on by organisations, pubs or towns, and lots of people have their own firework displays or bonfires. Our friends Marie and Graham spend a small fortune on fireworks to set off in their back garden this year, and they invited us to come watch. For a home display, it was great, and Graham took all the safety precautions possible. He didn't even injure himself, which is great for the English version of Tim "the Tool Man" Taylor.
Unfortunately, there is no test of how much common sense a person possesses prior to selling him or her fireworks. Our neighbours, who I would classify as true rednecks if they lived back in Texas, don't seem to have a brain cell to share between them. Not only were they setting off fireworks in their back garden, but they were aiming their rockets at other houses, mainly the house next door to Marie and Graham. After two misses, they hit the house twice. Rocket number five is the one that will be in my memory forever. It went low. Very low. Six inches to the left and I wouldn't be here typing this. Instead I ended up with short-term hearing loss in my right ear.
I'm a law student, and I could think of a half a dozen ways to sue them under tort law, but I decided against that. People think Americans are too fond of lawsuits as it is. Besides, being "rednecks", they don't have much worth suing for apart from a few tins of lager and a packet of salt and vinegar crisps.
I'll start with an explanation of why the British celebrate Bonfire Night in the first place for those of you outside the UK. Once upon a time, Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament, with Parliament and the King in the building. The plot was foiled, the King and Parliament were saved, and now Bonfire Night is a yearly celebration.
As a side note, my American-born oldest son came in from school one Fifth of November really excited because he had a history lesson that day and had learned the significance of the holiday. "Mum, it's because Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the King in the Houses of Prostitutes." I'll never let him live that one down.
Anyway, back to the year 2004. Lots of people go to firework displays or huge bonfires put on by organisations, pubs or towns, and lots of people have their own firework displays or bonfires. Our friends Marie and Graham spend a small fortune on fireworks to set off in their back garden this year, and they invited us to come watch. For a home display, it was great, and Graham took all the safety precautions possible. He didn't even injure himself, which is great for the English version of Tim "the Tool Man" Taylor.
Unfortunately, there is no test of how much common sense a person possesses prior to selling him or her fireworks. Our neighbours, who I would classify as true rednecks if they lived back in Texas, don't seem to have a brain cell to share between them. Not only were they setting off fireworks in their back garden, but they were aiming their rockets at other houses, mainly the house next door to Marie and Graham. After two misses, they hit the house twice. Rocket number five is the one that will be in my memory forever. It went low. Very low. Six inches to the left and I wouldn't be here typing this. Instead I ended up with short-term hearing loss in my right ear.
I'm a law student, and I could think of a half a dozen ways to sue them under tort law, but I decided against that. People think Americans are too fond of lawsuits as it is. Besides, being "rednecks", they don't have much worth suing for apart from a few tins of lager and a packet of salt and vinegar crisps.
posted by Melinda at 11/25/2004 06:31:00 pm
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