On December 31st of 2016 I went to celebrate New Year's Eve and watch a few fireworks in Hershey, PA. Earlier that day, a club filled with revelers was bombed in Istanbul, Turkey, leaving many dead and more injured. I was sad about the bombing, but decided I wasn't going to let that get in the way of me celebrating the beginning of 2017. I enjoyed my time in Hershey until the fireworks went off. The sounds of those fireworks reminded me of the first time I had ever heard them. The first time I learned about fireworks, the local stadium set them off and hadn't notified anyone, so when the fireworks went off everyone thought they were gun shots (we had also never heard gun shots, but lived in a high crime area so that seemed the most rational explanation for the sound). The "shooting" lasted for too long so someone finally decided to go outside and caught the last few bursts. They started yelling for all the neighbors to come out to see the fireworks. By t
These are the meandering thoughts of a smart and competent woman.