Dear Blog Reader
I hope that this finds you doing well. I am fine. The heat is good for the garden unless you really need lettuce or arugula. The kale is going to burn up and forget about the spinach; nothing doing as the temperature creeps up above 85 degrees.
Yes, as promised last week, I am here to discuss the weather surrounding the July 4th weekend. I really hated giving homework. But I really needed you to remember the rained out July 4th weekend. As the list of blog topics piles up, some are given away to the outer recesses (what an oxymoron; outer recesses) of my brain; the 12 foot tall sunflower that broke off before blooming, the beauty of hanging clothes on the line, the beauty of central air, why are some bees so mean, or if we don't stop misbehaving we are going to have to stop buying tall flag poles. The world has been bumping from one crisis to another. Over the past month the flag has flown at full staff for only 4 days. The other 26 it has flown at half-staff under the direction of our governor. Other topics stick in the forefront of my brain and I can't shake them. They wait until the traffic jam of life and my brain clear out and I get around to doing it.
So you were tasked with homework last week. You were supposed to remember the miserable rainout we had for the July 4th weekend. I want to take a moment to marvel at the lesson in the failings of big government. I know there are many of you who think that the purpose of government is to solve our problems and make the lot of our lives better. Bless your heart. You keep on thinking that. And don't read the rest of this blog.
Yes, the 4th of July was predicted to by rainy. Not only the 4th but rain was predicted everyday of the big weekend. All of the big 4th of July firework displays were threatened. They were threatened early in the week. The five day forecast predicted 100% rain on each of the days of the weekend. We were given early warning that the festivities were in danger of being rained out. The only fit time to shoot off fireworks was going to be Friday evening, the night when no festivities were planned. We had just finished a big week. We were on the brink of a three day weekend. Collectively, we needed to gather ourselves for the big weekend. So Friday was out, there was no time to reschedule. Fire personnel, police, and public safety personnel of all stripes could not be mustered in time for the events to take place on Friday evening.
So we went into the weekend, wringing our hands with anxiety and the cold sweats of those who know the entitlement of a city with an indoor football stadium whose roof opens for those three days a year when it is sunny and 70 degrees at kickoff. Would we be able to see the fireworks this weekend? Would the parade and street fair occur Saturday? Maybe it could be postponed until Sunday afternoon or Monday. Our face paint shouldn't run. Life would continue its uninterrupted string of successful holidays and celebrations. But Henny Penny could look at the weather forecast and see that was not going to happen. There was an 80% chance of rain each of the days. Yes, it was going to rain and rain hard. Still Penny wrung her hands.
I started this train of thought saying that a wonderful lesson was taught to us. The teachers came in the most remarkable form. We usually don't look to those DIY pyrotechnic experts, those who keep an eye on the seasonal fireworks shops, those who proudly sign the "I promise to light my fireworks at the approved fireworks lots placed around the state." They sign this proudly and without compunction under penalty of perjury knowing that they have no intention of lighting their fire works any place other than their own back yard barbecue, on their deck, after consuming multiple adult beverages and shooting towards your house.
Usually, they are not the paragon of virtue and good judgement. Yet, this time they got it right. Adam Smith called it the "invisible hand". According to Wiki the invisible hand theory states "that individuals' efforts to pursue their own interest may frequently benefit society more than if their actions were directly intending to benefit society." Yes, the invisible hand if those perjury committing hill-jacks single handedly saved our Independence Day. You may consider them and their home fireworks of shells, Roman candles, and sparklers a nuisance. However faced with a weekend of certain rain these sons and daughters of freedom stepped up and pursuing their own interests benefited society by jumping the gun and firing off their works on Friday night.
I know what my law and order fans want to say. "But Roger, they put the public and themselves at risk. Also, I hope that you weren't being insensitively ironic about the whole "invisible hand" thing." I wasn't and the fact that you brought it up shows how cynical you are. Sure some of them lost a finger or many fingers. Yet in the end this small subset provide a precautionary tale for the rest of us. Make sure that you throw the explosive after ignition. If it doesn't detonate in the prescribed time, let it be. Go get another one of the six free ones you got when buying one. Even the guy, on YouTube who put a "magic fountain" in his pants and lit it, provided millions of hits and shares bringing the world closer together. It was actually quite impressive until something went askew, as it was bound too, and started shooting million degree sparks at his belly button.
What was the rest of the world doing besides criticizing the Liberty loving patriots? They had their spokes-people on the news looking all glum about the show that was postponed on Saturday night. It was repeated for Sunday night. Some governments cancelled. Others postponed theirs until September. The news used the same breathless sense of urgency that they use for 4 inch snow storms. I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to have my traditional French toast 4th of July breakfast because all of the milk, bread, and eggs had been bought off the shelf in the panic.
So there you have it. On the one hand, government stood on the sidelines fretting about the rain and what to do and creating quite a stir in the mean time. On the other hand, the invisible hand, people went out and did what needed to be done. Sure, the rest of us had to show a little more forbearance and understanding for people who can sometimes be obnoxious in their exuberance. But in the end, they had a celebration the government couldn't get off the ground.
Take care.
Roger
No comments:
Post a Comment