Gunshots or Fireworks??

We have a favorite game that we play here in our 'hood. We like to call it Gunshots or Fireworks. Shortly after we moved here, we learned something that had been outside our range of immediate knowledge when we lived in a nicer neighborhood. People in questionable neighborhoods spend a small fortune on fireworks. July 4th is the most obvious time to see this urban phenomenon , but we've also seen displays on MLK's birthday, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and often on July 3rd and 5th as well. (Those people must be working with old calendars or perhaps just struggle with basic math. Both very real possibilities.) On the 4th of July, you don't even have to leave your house. Neighbors will duel with one another to see who can shoot off the biggest and therefore best display. These (literal) back alley fireworks shows come with some added features that you don't get with your city sanctioned events. At the city fireworks you have safety barriers, ambulances and fire trucks on hand, and people who are trained in pyrotechnics. At the back alley fireworks displays you have 12 year olds and drunk men shooting off professional level fireworks with no training whatsoever. That adds its own level of excitement because you never know if the fireworks are going to hit a house, or a car, or all go off at once. My favorite 4th of July was the year it hasn't rained in weeks and the locals started shooting off their fireworks in the 4 foot space between two 100 year old, wooden 3 deckers while I shouted, "You're going to burn down the neighborhood" at them between explosions. These displays also turn into a game of cat and mouse between the people shooting off the fireworks and the local police. It is illegal to own and shoot off fireworks in Massachusetts, so these nights often involve the cops showing up in the areas where these fireworks are going down. Everyone scatters. The cops leave. Five minutes later, the show is back on. Cops show up again. Everyone scatters. This goes on all night long. Because...'Murica.

So fireworks are commonplace in the 'hood. Gunshots are commonplace in the 'hood. From time to time you'll hear what sounds like one or two fireworks going off. This is when you play Gunshots or Fireworks. Everyone present guesses what made the sound-a gun or fireworks. There are a few fool proof ways to win at this game. First, people rarely shoot off just one firework. If you hear just one, the answer is probably gunshot. If it's one of the aforementioned holidays, the answer is probably fireworks. 

Worcester put Shotspotters in certain high crime neighborhoods not too long ago. (Including ours! Winning!!!) These are mounted high up on light posts and send a signal to the police within something like 40 seconds of hearing the shots. (The reason for these being that people in the 'hood often subscribe to the "snitches get stitches" line of thought and no actual person would ever tell on a neighbor for shooting up the street. Enter the Shotspotter aka the electronic snitch.) With the Shotspotter on the case you will often hear sirens almost immediately-letting you know that the winner of the game is whoever said "gunshot." Some days you have to wait for confirmation though-either via the police department's Facebook page or a roadside memorial springing up. (Sad, but true.) If you have friends in the area you can engage in a multi-player, real time version of this game where you hear the sound and then immediately text your friend, "Did you hear that?! Gunshot or firework?!" Always a good time, never a dull moment. 

Keeping lookout, as you do in the 'hood.