Independence Day: WFNY Staff Chat

mgbode – Today’s roundtable is your favorite Independence Day traditions… and if you have to alter any of them for this particular year.

andrew – Growing up, our extended family would all get together for 4th of July. We would usually play a bunch of games with all my cousins, and then everyone (including parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, cousins) would have a big water balloon toss competition. As we grew older and as cousins began to have families of their own, the tradition sort of naturally faded away, as life tends to do. But I’ll always have tons of fond memories of those parties.

scott – Did someone say “traditions?” @wfnycraig

andrew – Oh, I also always listen to Soundgarden’s “4th of July” on the 4th of July. The song has literally nothing to do with the holiday, but it’s an awesome song and it was always a great excuse to listen to it.

wfnycraig – Have I given everyone a dosage of my war on tradition, @scott? Is that my brand? 🙂

scott – The Dave Ramsay of tradition. Could be an entry point.

mgbode – Haha, well a counterpoint is that traditions align with people feeling a connection to their family, friends, and memories. Such connections tend to illicit happiness. So, count me among those who are pro-tradition. Oddly enough though, we have few of our own for this particular holiday other than gathering as a family. We have gone to firework shows, gone places where we could set off our own fireworks, and avoided fireworks entirely. We’ve barbecued most years… but it is also not an essential component for the meal. Card and board games are usually present; though which varies by the year. MLB has always been a big part in some respect; that will be different this year.

scott – I’m pro-tradition as well. As it pertains to the 4th, much like Memorial Day, it’s been spent at the lake with my family. If this were a standard year, we’d head up tomorrow/Friday and come back after dinner on Sunday. Standard cookout, relaxing, maybe some pool when the weather cooperates. Weirdly, however, fireworks haven’t been much of a focal point. The kids will do sparklers and other innocuous “works”. It’s mostly an excuse for me to *really* unplug from work and just chill outside with some cold ones and a Bluetooth speaker.

mgbode – I hope you are able to do that last part even if not at the lake.

scott – Thanks, man. I’m hoping so as well. Worst case, I bought a tee and net so I can wreck a few softballs in the backyard.

mgbode – Oh, I have some fun tee drills I can set you up with. Just let me know 🙂

scott – I pull everything so my plan is to work inside half.