It was July 4th yesterday. This is our third Fourth of July here in Harlingen and it has its unique aspects. It's legal to sell fireworks here. But only for July 4th and New Year's. And they can only be sold for something like 14 days before the big event. This gives rise to one of the most bizarre retail operations you ever saw.
About six weeks before the big event, the portable fireworks stands start coming in. These are about 20 feet long and maybe 6 feet deep. They bring them in on trailer trucks and drop them off. They have their locations all staked out - always the same places. Over the next couple of weeks they stock them. Now - someone has to actually be there manning the stand. And despite the fact that they are on what passes for major roads out here, they are not permanent structures. So they don't have rest rooms much less air conditioning. The people that staff them are on a sort of "retail camping expedition". There are various methods for dealing with this. Some sleep in their cars/trucks. Others pitch tents. Some have porta-potties. Others don't. (Best not to think about that). It's like a strange TV show "Survivor - Retail".
There are also a couple of large permanent structures for selling fireworks. They are closed for all but the 28 days (or so) a year they can sell. So most of the time when you drive by them there is absolutely nothing happening. We used drive past one of the big ones every day ("Mr. G's SUPERSTORE" "Factory Direct" - I guess when you are purchasing explosives it's important to know they come directly from the factory). Since we passed it every day it was easy to scope out the parking lot. And it has a huge parking lot. A couple of days before the 4th we would see a few cars each time we went past. Then, bang, the night of the 3rd, it is packed solid with cars. A LOT of action.
It seems hard to believe that the companies stay in business based on 2 big days a year. (I'm sure they must somehow be selling product the rest of the time.) And you wouldn't think the mark-up on fireworks would be so terrific that it pays to set up all these stands to sell the stuff or keep a store closed for 340 days a year. (Not to mention the liability of handling them). But obviously it must work or they wouldn't keep doing it.
By the morning of July 5 or January 1, it's all over. They can't legally sell anymore. The stands are all closed up. Mr. G's is deserted. Over the next 2 weeks the stands get picked up and I guess are stored someplace until the next holiday when they do it all again.
Since you can set these things off outside the city limits here, the fireworks are added to the traditional July 4 barbeque. Around 9 pm or so you can catch these homegrown displays. You certainly HEAR them going off everywhere. (Our dogs especially don't like that part). But this is one of the great things about Harlingen - Independence Day barbeque with fireworks and that curious Tex-Mex music blaring into the neighborhood. Nowhere else but America, that's for sure.
Malcolm