Allen Ray McGrew, 41, was found laying in the road. He put a firework on his head, and it exploded while on his head, causing massive head injuries, officials said.
His wife, Paige McGrew, said her husband had been drinking since 6 p.m.
See, Florida? It’s not just you. Americans get drunk and do insanely stupid shit everywhere else in the country too.
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Yeah many years ago a co-workers wife went to pick up a “dud” firework and something similar happened to her infront of him and his two kids. None of them were ok after that.
Safety precautions are so important. Duds go in the bucket and you use a grabber. Never touch something that didn’t go off.
Dumbass, or Darwin award winner, or whatever he might be called, yeah he was just some dude who did some dumb shit he’s probably done before or seen someone do before. This time it just went bad. There is a malignant complacency in American culture surrounding fireworks. These are explosive materials that are constantly disrespected. I’ve done it, I’ve seen it done, it is very common in the US. I really feel for this guys family, could very easily have been mine at one point in time.
The crazy thing about every one of these stories is actually how completely unsurprised the wife always is. “Well, you know, we always assumed it wouldn’t be cancer.”
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When I was a kid, my mom told me stories about working as a receptionist for a hospital, back when they used pneumatic tubes to deliver messages and computers were basically 8 colors at most.
A drunk father burst into the ER holding one screaming child in front of him with both arms, with another child in tow, sobbing.
A bunch of the the held kid’s fingers had been blown off.
…
My mom never told me if they managed to reattach the fingers. I’m guessing not.
She did tell me what had caused this to occur:
This guy thought it would be a fun thing to get a bunch of m80s, get in his car, with his kids, and drive down the highway, drinking, whilst lighting and chucking m80s willy nilly.
At one point, one of the kids opened their window, and woops, one of the m80s flew back into the car.
It wasn’t even the 4th of July.
…
Later as an older kid, I loved fireworks, but respected them.
Always had a nearby source of water, always wore sunglasses and ear plugs, always chuck something handheld if you think you lit it, but you aren’t sure, basically always follow the instructions, and even then sometimes they are crap, so always have some kind of ditch or cover to hide in/behind.
…
I do not understand how stupid you have to be to mix drinking and explosives or drinking and guns or drinking and driving, sadly, probably the majority of people I’ve met in my life have no problem with doing at least one of those.
i love how everyone wants to regulate this dangerous thing, and its not the alcohol
We tried regulating alcohol and it was an abysmal failure. I doubt there’s much motivation to repeat the 1920s.
But we’re doing so many other great roaring 20’s things. Just look at the meteoric rise of the S&P 500.
Wtf are you talking about? We regulate it right now.
Alcohol is very heavily regulated, starting from creation, through transport and conditions of sale, to how, where, and when it is consumed, and what can legally be done after consuming it.
There is a lot of licensing and legal regulation surrounding bars and alcohol-sales businesses. I think you’re confusing regulation and prohibition.
sure, but thats no reason to just not try anything. maybe if it were treated as a healthcare problem instead of a policing issue.
of course, that would require the united states to actually care about its human citizens enough to pay for their well-being.
Honestly, the only thing I can think of that could work would be what happened with cigarettes- a combination of significantly rising prices and an alternative to the original addiction (vaping, which is, at least in theory, safer). Some people claim that legal cannabis fills the second goal, but it’s a hell of a lot more expensive than cheap beer, at least in Illinois. And good luck convincing beverage outlets into pricing people out of cheap beer.
More tax on bad things. And use the money for good things.
So unlike what happens with every other such tax, like on cannabis or tobacco? Because none of them get spent on good things.
No, exactly like cannabis and tobacco taxes.
So you want the money wasted this time too?
Again, cannabis and tobacco taxes don’t end up being spent on what they claim they will be spent on. They go into slush funds and get parceled out on bullshit.
If they did things like help with education and such, I’d agree. But they don’t.
That wasn’t regulation that was prohibition. Alcohol is currently regulated (21+ or 19 if you’re Canadian)
i love how everyone wants to regulate this dangerous thing
What wonderland do you live in? lol. I want to go to there.
Fireworks used to be heavily regulated in my area, but in recent years, you can basically get anything short of a stick of dynamite from any of the hundreds of pop-up tents that set up in shopping plaza parking lots every June 1.
I don’t get a good night’s sleep from mid-June through September because of neighborhood kids setting the damn things off every night until 2 - 2:30 AM.
You know at some point I think we have to accept a certain percentage of the population is going to be lost to their own stupidity.
Nothing against this dude or his family. But placing any lit firework or explosive on your head is basically asking for at least a traumatic head injury, if not death.
I’ve been fucked up on a number of substances both legal and not so legal. I don’t think I’ve ever had an idea I’d be willing to act on while fucked up that’s nearly as self destructive as that.
Why not both?
oh, i agree. but the blind eye we turn towards the availability of alcohol which kills untold thousands per year is a little insane. it kills far more than fireworks, and a lot of innocent bystanders at that.
marijuana is a registered drug because of its ‘danger’, but alcohol is not. it would be comical if it wasnt so sad
marijuana is a registered drug because of its ‘danger’, but alcohol is not. it would be comical if it wasnt so sad
Worse, it’s a “schedule 1” drug, which is defined as having:
- a high potential for abuse.
- no currently accepted medical treatment use in the U.S. Drugs.com
Interestingly enough, that definition fits one of these substances, but it’s not pot.
I’m with you about how strange and bad our acceptance towards alcohol is. But that doesn’t make fireworks automatically a good thing.
I’d go so far as to bar the consumption and sale!
Hi, I’m Carrie A. Nation, and in this essay and with this hatchet, I will…
😂 This deserves more upvotes.
On the positive side, he wont be drinking again
And he didn’t hurt anyone else. A lot of people who fuck around with fireworks hurt innocent bystanders.
I feel bad for his widow.
And he didn’t hurt anyone else.
At least not physically. Anyone witnessing it is probably psychologically wounded.
I have permanent mild hearing loss and tinnitus from some jackass adult setting off small fireworks right next to me when I was fourteen. Had severe ringing in my ears and significant hearing loss for a couple of months after that. Thanks, asshole.
I’m guessing she’s trying not to laugh her head off.
And the Darwin Award goes to…
At 41, he probably already passed on his genes (if he was ever going to).
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Drinking for a few hours in not a fucking excuse to blow your own head up. I have been drinking for much longer than that and have never felt the need to face fuck a Roman candle.
It’s amazing how many times I see this same headline, year after year. It’s always a dude, too.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes…
Someone in my group chat poster the picture and I can’t unsee it. It’s horrible.
Sounds like you need a group chat without that person in it jfc
We need to ban fireworks
We do. They:
- Cause pollution and impact people with respiratory illnesses.
- Are a burden on EMS and hospitals.
- Veterans with PTSD hate them.
- Pets and animals hate them.
- Drunk shitheads disrupt the peace for people who work the next day.
They’re a high cost and a stupidly superficial reward.
At the very least ban private sale. Start promoting drone displays. They’re cooler anyway.
People do stupid shit with everything. There is even a video of a guy testing a knife in a shop by stabbing himself in the stomach. You can not ban everything just because some dumb fuck does something.
A guy stabbing himself in the stomach is not likely to start a massive wildfire that way.
That guy needs serious help.
Ban private fireworks and reserve them only for licensed, scheduled displays run by professionals.
That was the law in Michigan up until 2012. People would have to drive to Indiana to buy them but there were far fewer fireworks and far fewer injuries. Michigan wanted a cut of the tax revenue Indiana was getting but there is no fucking way Indiana was getting the sales from MI people that MI is now getting here in MI. My neighborhood sounded like a war zone last night, I am in a residential area and people were setting off m80s and huge mortars. This year we had too nice of night for the 4th.
They should be strictly regulated, used only by professionals.
South Carolina is basically an extension of Georgia (excluding Atlanta) which is basically an extension of Florida.
Went out with a bang.
He used to stand head and shoulders above those around him.
Bang bang bang
I embarrassingly did something similar (lighted up a firework in my mouth and took a long inhale straight to lungs like a cigarette before throwing it away nonchalantly seconds before explosion) when I was young and stupid. But 41 cmon
And also I didn’t care about my life whatsoever unlike now but I was still stupid because there are less painful and quicker ways to go. I was too much of a coward to approach suicide seriously so I gambled with life seeing no value or sense in it all.
Still have burn scars from extinguishing cigarettes on my own skin, they are super ugly but also remind me of the long road travelled and how much better I am doing now.
What is ironic is that some good people that cherished life and were really, diligent and kindhearted are gone or on the streets or went insane. While I was desperately trying to fuck it all up and made a poor job out of it in the end. Just because I was given randomly better brain at birth that did what they diligently strived so hard for as if it was nothing at all or better parents or more money
