Safety first this holiday weekend
Independence Day has always been one of my favorite holidays.
It has always been a time where my family has gotten together for some fun. Since my father is from Union Chapel, a community nearly sandwiched in between Menifee and Center Ridge, we used to attend the School House's annual Fourth of July baseball game. The historic game still goes on today. After the game, we would then have a night filled with watching the skies light up.
Many of you may have family traditions, whether it's visiting family, going to the lake, cooking out, or getting together for a fireworks show. I believe another reason I like this holiday is because it is in the middle of the vacation season. However, on the unfortunate side of things, I have witnessed some terrible wrecks and horrific firecracker accidents on this holiday.
I did some research and tried to find out what was the deadliest day of the year to travel, and many of the sources listed July 4 as No. 1, and July 3 as No. 2. That's scary.
Not only do a lot of people travel on the Fourth of July, but alcohol and or drugs are usually involved. That is also scary. Everyone must be extra careful on this Saturday. There will be irresponsible people on the roads. That is just a fact. What we can control is not to become one of those irresponsible drivers. I was always taught to watch out for myself on the road, but to also watch out for other people as well. I've been in a few wrecks in my life, but it's never been my fault. So just remember to drive extra careful and don't go anywhere in a hurry, because it may end up taking longer than you expected. And, it's just not worth it.
Alcohol and explosives just don't go together.
Even if there is no alcohol involved, explosives are dangerous enough. Parents please supervise your children and make sure they are not shooting them at each other or at cars passing by.
It seemed like the older I got the more careless I got with the explosives. When I was in middle school and junior high we had firecracker wars. Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. For those of who don't know, it's when you have two teams and you go to war. Now, that I think about it, the wars were dumb and irresponsible. Somebody would always get hurt or a piece of clothing would get burnt.
There are some given facts about today, but you don't have to be in the tragic statistic, So remember to think safety first this holiday weekend.
(Michael Allen is a staff writer for the Log Cabin Democrat by e-mail mike.allen@thecabin.net or by phone 505-1234.)