In my granddadâÂÂs day, he kept his lawn neat and mown for holidays. He never said an unkind word against a president. He gave of himself in three branches of service.

That said, celebrating our independence with firecrackers is a tradition generations old. Trouble is, our grandfathers and great-grandfathers coupled this privilege with respect for others. Few these days do.

When I was little, we watched the city fireworks display on campus from my brotherâÂÂs bedroom window. WeâÂÂd be glued there for a couple of hours, waiting for a rare glimpse of sprays of red, silver or green through the leaves of our mulberry tree. When that was moved to the river, we were old enough to have fireworks of our own Ãi¿½” first sparklers and small fountains and then a few bigger things, which weâÂÂve always kept at the base of our own driveway.

ThatâÂÂs where respect comes in. The holiday can be ruined by those of you who let your kids horse around with fireworks or set them off down streets where you donâÂÂt even live. And, yeah, some people do have to go to work at four the next morning, so is it really nice to shoot of a block-long string of firecrackers at 11:30?

Fireworks arenâÂÂt the problem. Lack of courtesy all around us is. Gee thanks, folks. YouâÂÂve ruined it for everyone.

Sarah Ashley Posch,

Lawrence