Here are two holiday rituals we could do without.
First, free-lance fireworks – notably at odd hours and on dates other than July 4th (or December 31st) by those who couldn’t name two signees of the Declaration of Independence – if you spotted them George Mason. Most of us can tolerate the inconvenience of the inevitable sound track of the cluelessly inconsiderate, but it’s not fair to pets. In fact, it’s often traumatic. And, yes, I have one.
Second, the high-profile, nationally televised (ESPN), live-from-Coney Island, Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest. But if there really must be this perverse salute to gluttony, could the promoters at least have the good taste, as it were, to not play the Star Spangled Banner at the end? Americans are pretty liberal with their patriotic backdrops, but can’t we draw the line with the guy who inhaled 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes?