Right at this moment, my brother is over at a friend's house, setting off illegal fireworks. They're illegal because everything is illegal in our state, except for sparklers.

Of course, living in a tri-state area means that we are less than a half-hour away from two states with much more relaxed fireworks laws. Consequently, as soon as you cross the state border, you see fireworks store after fireworks store (especially at this time of year). There is nothing easier than buying out-of-state fireworks and taking them back to your house for the 4th of July (or for the 28th of June).

It kind of bothers me that everybody does this, and nobody seems to think twice about it. It also bugs me that my parents are letting my brother do this, because normally they are pretty strict about laws and rules. I can just imagine my brother in a few years:

Brother-"Mom, I'm going over to my friend's house to smoke pot."
Mom-"Are you crazy? You can't do that!"
Brother-"But you let me do the fireworks!"

Maybe that's a little farfetched. But isn't a law a law? Or are there some that aren't as important? No wonder society is going down the tubes...

Ali"Teenaged curmudgeon"son