Fireworks Stands and the Economy: Which Ones to Support and Which to Avoid

Most of us have a memory of buying a large bagful of fireworks at a fireworks stand in our lifetime, no matter if one live(d) in a state that made most fireworks illegal. And we probably share a collective memory of feeling that these stands we were buying from gave off a vibe of being a bit shady. No, I don't mean a fireworks stand sitting under a giant shady tree from the intense summer sun to prevent a massive explosion. I mean one that appeared to be out to clean up financially as much as possible and sell out their assortment of sometimes inferior fireworks in the process. I'll never forget my first unknowing experience buying from a shady dealer that gave the impression you were going to save money.

All it took was an enticing coupon from a fireworks dealer in the newspaper that could get you a small box of smoke balls for FREE if you presented the coupon to the underpaid and apathetic teenage employee working at the counter.

Then we all remember the first feeling of consumer trust being blown to smithereens as much as a cherry bomb explosion gone awry.

Of course, those smoke balls were the biggest ripoff this side of the nearest used car dealership selling bargain and offloaded vehicles. Fortunately, most of the expensive fireworks bought at the same stand worked when lit on the big night. But the free ones did absolutely nothing except provide an uneventful trickle of smoke. The reaction from friends and family: "Now you know what to expect when dealing with free."

Well, the point was that they were made in the first place when they didn't do anything of consequence. Plus, the principle of a fireworks stand selling them just to offload something they knew was a bust proved to me that many fireworks stands are akin to the old carnivals that once traveled the country looking for suckers to come see sideshow attractions for a hefty admission price. Yes, the above-mentioned fireworks dealer was already charging a good $6 for just one fountain back in the 80's when that amount was a little more than its worth now.

Yet, to this day, many of those same kinds of fireworks stands still line public streets and parking lots where families continue to pay out hundreds of dollars to buy legal fireworks in their respective state (and sometimes taking them illegally to another state that doesn't allow them). God only knows where the money goes after the fireworks dealer gets it into their money bags. Most customers I remember around me never asked the people running the stand where the money goes. If the stand was located in the above-mentioned parking lot of a mall, chances were/are the money goes into the pockets of a fireworks distributor with an unknown background. As far as anybody knows, the money could be going into nefarious pockets after that.

Because America is a mostly Christian nation, we at least have the alternative of seeing a few fireworks stands on the lots of churches. In those scenarios, we know where the money is supposed to be going, especially when they set up a sign to indicate that all funds go to the particular church or other charity.

Those, though, have inevitable competition from national distributors such as Phantom and TNT Fireworks who can unfortunately have a local stand right up the street from the church. With that comes conflicting reports that all fireworks stands may be suffering in sales this year due to the diffuse sluggishness of everything during our faltering economy.

When you have other media outlets saying people are still buying fireworks despite saving money, we end up having a whole new situation in buying pyrotechnics for the 4^th of July: Developing a conscience in where we buy them...
_____

Our Founding Fathers forwarded the idea of celebrating the 4^th with pomp and circumstance of bottle rockets, so to speak. They also promoted the idea of capitalism in the early days of America. But the complications of that capitalism are quite deep now, particularly when the concept of buying fireworks has never been in a situation where a family thinks carefully about where they buy them. When we're kids, we just want to go get a bundle of fireworks at any stand that's accessible and not worry where the money goes or how expensive it is. The prospect of how spectacular (or, to be blunt, how loud and fast) the fireworks will be on the night of the 4^th takes precedence over finances.

Since selling fireworks is one of the best methods of making money fast for a charity, it might do the public good to seek out a non-profit stand if the consumer is one of the fortunate who have extra cash to spend for the 4^th. There may be conflicting reports of people opting out of buying fireworks and watching them in hi-def on TV instead. Nevertheless, there's always going to be a set of people who spend money anyway on fireworks, no matter how bad the economy is. Heading to a national or independent, profit-geared fireworks dealer would only prolong the feeling the American populace has had to deal too much with lately: Having their money go to questionable sources for little value.

Non-profit fireworks stands may not be as plentiful, yet they're easy to find. Even if it means driving a little farther to get to a clearly marked one, they're now the new economic emblem of the 4^th of July. That means America might have a newly-discovered freedom of wisely deciding where their money goes when buying pyrotechnics to celebrate all our other freedoms.

With that scenario, we won't have to deal with haunting visions on the night of the 4th of a creepy fireworks distributor counting your hard-earned money with a cackle to continue a collective American nightmare. As is also the American way, though, be sure to get information from non-profit fireworks stands to make sure the charity your money is going toward actually exists. As all Americans know about capitalism, it can also mean a dark side where a seemingly perfect act of symbiotic giving can sometimes turn into a sham.

In turn, it makes the bombastic sounds of fireworks truly representative of our economic tug-of war as well as celebrating our 233^rd year of freedom...