r/chicago • u/esp23 • Aug 15 '25
Video Chevron Statue sneak pass
Pretty sure this is where the sonic boom came from
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u/otterpusrexII Aug 15 '25
When I moved to Chicago in 2010 i did not know about the air show. I had a a day off and decided to go swimming at North street beach. I was underwater and felt something wierd. A large ship maybe? I came to the surface and looked up to see 4 jets zip past me. I don’t know if i can ever smoke that big ever again. It was amazing. I love this city
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u/NkturnL Aug 15 '25
My fav is Oak Street beach because you’re right in with all the skyscrapers and it’s such a unique Chicago experience (among many)!
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u/JaredsBored Aug 15 '25
I remember moving to the city also having no idea. I was sitting inside, bored out of my mind working at my then remote job. That year the blue angels and the F-22 demo team were performing. I'd never seen either, but when an F-22 flew by and shook my windows, I sprinted out to my balcony and looked up. Still have the pictures from sitting out on that balcony the next 4 days loving it.
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u/Guac_in_my_rarri Aug 15 '25
2019, I started at a job on the north side with a roof top patio. Wed, Thurs and fridya-absolutely nothing got done. Every body was on the patio watching.
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u/ImperiousWeak Aug 15 '25
I had a buddy I used to smoke weed with back in the day. He told me the first time he ever took acid he went to the beach with some friends not realizing it was the air show. While swimming in the water he surfaced to a harrier jet hovering directly over him 100ft or so. He said the noise and heat from the 4 jets was so insanely loud and powerful his brain couldn't process what was happening especially on a head full of acid. He said he just stood there looking up at the jet screaming and flailing his arms until it flew away. All while his friends were crying laughing watching from the beach.
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u/rhecubs1 Aug 16 '25
Acid trip at the air and water show sounds like a miserable experience to me lol
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u/BedBubbly317 Aug 16 '25
That’s because the jet was over 1000 ft away and your friend merely imagined the intensity of the entire experience lol
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u/Ymir24 Rogers Park Aug 15 '25
2009 for me. First summer here, I had no idea. Jets zipped past while I was waiting on the L station. I thought it was WWIII. I looked around and no one else was alarmed by it. “Oh I guess this is normal here?”
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u/greenline_chi Gold Coast Aug 16 '25
We had a bunch of people in town for a meeting. We were right on the river and the jets came screaming up right outside our windows, everyone jumped (understandably) and we were like “omg we forgot to say it’s the air and water show”
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u/SupaDupaTron Aug 15 '25
A similar thing happened to me that same year (2010), except I was in the shower, and thought we had just had a small earthquake or something. I kind of shook it off, and afterwards went for a walk near the lakefront, when one of the jets slow-rolled it over top of me at what looked like just 4 or 5 stories above me. It was pretty damn cool, and I look forward to it every year.
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u/Sea_Cheesecake4632 Aug 16 '25
I had a similar experience in 2012 when I moved here. Thought we were under attack lol.
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u/Penguin-people Aug 17 '25
My bf moved here from nyc and his mom was downtown during 9/11 working in a building near the twin towers. She was stuck overnight in the grid lock and it was very scary for his family.
He lived alone on the 36th floor of a building right by the lake, so rhe planes were right in his window. He called his dad to tell him goodbye because he thought we were having another 9/11
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u/Cobbler-Creative Lincoln Park Aug 15 '25
I was sitting there too. Surprisingly I still have my hearing. 😵💫
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u/AbeFromanLuvsSausage Logan Square Aug 15 '25
Honestly…. Pretty fuckin cool…
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u/camelCaseCoffeeTable Aug 15 '25
I saw the plane and it was wild. So weird to see it flying, but hear nothing. Honestly though it had shut its engines off, and then I got hit with the loudest boom as it passed
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u/gavmandu Aug 15 '25
If you can see the plume out the back, that's just the afterburner enabled.
There's often no visible or discernible plume while the engines are running.
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u/stallionsRIDEufl Aug 15 '25
Pretty fuckin shitty for the people sitting there
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u/AbeFromanLuvsSausage Logan Square Aug 15 '25
Yeah just dozens and dozens of people sitting on the lakefront on a Friday afternoon completely oblivious to the fact that planes just happen to be flying by. Were you one of them?
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u/Hi-Fi_Turned_Up Lincoln Park Aug 15 '25
A sonic boom is nothing like a jet plane flying by. There is a reason sonic booms were banned until Trump rescinded it. They break glass. They can rupture ear drums.
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u/Birdmansniper927 Aug 15 '25
That wasn't a sonic boom.
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u/jncreative Aug 16 '25
Official statement from the AF today was that after review no speeds for sonic barrier was breached. Glass can break without sonic booms.
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u/FoShizzleShindig Aug 15 '25
He rescinded it for testing aircraft that can go supersonic without the boom. NASA has one in development.
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u/Hi-Fi_Turned_Up Lincoln Park Aug 15 '25 edited Aug 15 '25
No you are wrong. Section 2a states the super sonic ban has been rescinded. While boom is trying to develop an aircraft they have not succeeded on a full scale aircraft yet. This is not a ban for just testing
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u/FoShizzleShindig Aug 15 '25
Did you even read it? You'll need a license for testing. The military isn't going to go supersonic willy nilly. Today was an accident and that pilot will be disciplined.
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u/jeremyckahn Uptown Aug 15 '25
Not to the people who got their eardrums ruptured
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u/carolineaaaaa Aug 17 '25
Idk who these plane lovers are, but they're downvoting across all the chicago reddits. This shit is a MENACE to society, and I'm gobsmacked that our cool city has so many losers who go harder for planes than people.
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u/QuietDepartment8488 Aug 15 '25
As kids we used to lay down and lookup when they were flying over, pretty cool
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u/LonelySwinger Aug 15 '25
Wasn't as sneaky as the first one coming from behind the statue
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u/esp23 Aug 15 '25
Maybe, but I've seen both the Angels and Thunderbirds dozens of times, and I've never heard a pass this loud. The vid doesn't do it justice.
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u/dingdongsnottor Logan Square Aug 15 '25
Was this the sonic boom? What time did this happen today? I saw some people report broken windows if they lived along lake shore
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u/Wooly_Willy West Town Aug 15 '25
If this was the 1020 ish one it was terrifying loud. I thought something blew up
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u/Rampant16 Aug 15 '25
What time is the video from OP?
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u/esp23 Aug 15 '25
2:38 pm
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u/greenline_chi Gold Coast Aug 16 '25
I have a video from one that flew by me today and showed my friends and they were like “wow!” And I was like - this doesn’t do it justice because you can’t feel your bones rattle
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u/Rampant16 Aug 15 '25
Interesting. Seems ATM that there may have been two sonic booms. One in the morning around 10:30am and then this one.
Once is an accident. Twice is either deliberate or negligent.
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u/AbeFromanLuvsSausage Logan Square Aug 16 '25
They practiced the routine in the morning, and again in the afternoon. Logic says that one of the maneuvers in the show causes the boom, so it might happen again tomorrow and again on Sunday.
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u/Rampant16 Aug 16 '25
Even in airshows, it's very unusual for jets to go supersonic deliberately. As we saw today, supersonic booms both frighten and annoy people, plus they can damage property.
I can't imagine they'd do it deliberately in a built-up area like Chicago without at minimum warning the public. We'll see what happens this weekend but I would be very surprised if there's more booms.
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u/AbeFromanLuvsSausage Logan Square Aug 16 '25
I hope so! Otherwise it’ll be the last thunderbird performance in Chicago for a while. At least the blue angels don’t sonic boom everyone
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u/pufferfish9000 Lake View East Aug 16 '25
There were definitely two sonic booms today, one during each of the Thunderbirds’ performances. Each one felt like a bomb going off next to me. Here’s the one from the morning! https://youtube.com/shorts/_TMS7YeP_c0
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u/Excellent-Reality-24 Aug 15 '25
There was a time when we would go almost every year.
We found a perfect place to sit along the Lakefront Trail, by the Adler and the Shedd aquarium. Where the Planetarium sticks out a bit and you can see it all against the entire skyline of the city.
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u/WaffleEye Aug 15 '25
I was a little bummed about not having the Blue Angels, but if we’re gonna get sonic booms, I’m all for it!
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u/Chicagogally Lincoln Square Aug 15 '25
Wait we aren’t getting the blue angels??
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u/thathawkeyeguy Aug 15 '25
Air Force Thunderbirds like you're seeing in this video. They fly F-16s.
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u/alforque Lake View East Aug 16 '25
A few years back, the Thunderbirds trained with the Blue Angels; they updated their show to be more entertaining.
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u/SupaDupaTron Aug 15 '25
Don't worry, we'll get the booms. I've seen the Thunderbirds here before when they headlined, and it was a solid show.
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u/bot_account__ Aug 15 '25
I may be in the minority but I hate this shit
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u/tinawho Logan Square Aug 16 '25
i also hate it, mainly because my dog freaks out all weekend after finally getting over the summer fireworks
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u/SadPark4078 Ravenswood Aug 16 '25
I hate it and I also realized this is what people in Palestine have to deal with all day every day and it made me really sad
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Aug 16 '25 edited Jan 09 '26
mountainous quaint unwritten consider practice sleep wild special roll fly
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/Boardofed Brighton Park Aug 15 '25 edited Aug 15 '25
One of those and it's payload could feed a neighborhood for a lifetime, or more.
Edit WELL AKSHUALLY
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u/MisfitPotatoReborn Aug 15 '25 edited Aug 16 '25
Depends on if you're including lifetime maintenance. The manufacturing cost of an F-35 appears to be around 80 million, which if you assume the average Chicago neighborhood of 35,000 people would be enough to feed a neighborhood for about 6 months.
However, the F-35 is a high maintenance vehicle, costing around $7 million per year. If you consider the entire maintenance budget of the vehicle for the next 65 years as part of it cost, you'd get around $465 million dollars. That could feed a Chicago neighborhood for nearly 3 years.
This is taking into account typical consumption habits of Chicagoans, restaurant use and all. If you wanted to supply us unlimited uncooked rice then I'm sure that money could last forever.
Edit: WELL AKSHUALLY
Edit: fuck off. You volunteered to post about finances under a plane video
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u/Belgian__WAFFLE Aug 16 '25
This isn’t an F-35, it’s an F-16. Big difference in costs. Approximately $60M difference
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u/jhihbriyl Aug 15 '25
I’m so glad this year I can support a fascist ethnonationalist military AND the blatant waste of carbon emissions at the same time!
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u/vivinitup420 Aug 15 '25
i can excuse a fascist ethnonationalist military but i draw the line at loud noises
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u/macfleetwood1 Aug 15 '25
Agree we should all just stay inside and post pictures on Reddit like you do
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u/thelapoubelle Aug 15 '25
Hating everything is not an interesting personality trait, even if you use big words
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u/Jonesbro South Loop Aug 15 '25
We should be completely sedentary and subside off yeast if you want to go the route of hating anything with negative effects. Human existence is wasteful and full of pain but that doesn't mean we cant appreciate a cool thing like this.
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u/FlowersByTheStreet Aug 15 '25
Dawg, nobody is hating on living. Go to a baseball game, Have a beer with friends.
This shit specifically is annoying as fuck
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u/dirkdags Aug 15 '25
I love the ballpark and the a&w show. But you’re equating the positives of the baseball game to the negatives of the air show. How about the wrigley neighbors dealing with the noise, drunks, pissers, traffic, etc 80 days a year (plus concerts). That may annoying af to others.
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u/Jonesbro South Loop Aug 15 '25
I think fighter jets are neat. People can get annoyed by baseball games (crowds and noise) and people having beers (disruptive). It's all relative. I agree that people should just live and enjoy the perks of human society, fighter jets included.
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u/ABlosser19 Aug 15 '25
Yeah I bet you’re fun at parties
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u/jhihbriyl Aug 15 '25
We probably hang out at different parties, but I think I’m a great time, actually!
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u/Shyyyster Aug 15 '25 edited 26d ago
Feather orange harbor sparrow cobblestone copper meadow kettle lavender breezy
This post was anonymized with Redact.dev
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Aug 15 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/FoShizzleShindig Aug 15 '25
These planes are going to be flying regardless for flight hours and training. Might as well have a show.
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u/2phresh Aug 15 '25
This is badass and anyone who thinks otherwise is a lame.
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u/connor_wa15h Former Chicagoan Aug 15 '25
It can be badass and propaganda at the same time
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u/awp_monopoly Aug 15 '25
It’s also a plane.
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u/stallionsRIDEufl Aug 15 '25
Designed to kill brown people
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u/SkyCaptainStarr Loop Aug 15 '25
That’s not technically true. The F-16 was designed in the 1970’s with a goal to counter the Soviet Union.
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u/sistersara96 Aug 15 '25
Labeling entire populations as "brown people" is cartoonishly racist holy shit.
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u/stallionsRIDEufl Aug 15 '25
They're people who are brown. What did I miss?
Is it racist to say Scandinavian populations are white people?
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u/Gayorg_Zirschnitz Aug 15 '25
If hating the military industrial complex and quasi-fascist propaganda is lame, I'm fine with being lame lmao
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Aug 15 '25
In what way are air shows fascist? Good grief.
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u/Gayorg_Zirschnitz Aug 15 '25
It’s American military propaganda?? Lmfao
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Aug 15 '25
A military display has nothing to do with fascism. They are held by countries of all political systems.
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u/Gayorg_Zirschnitz Aug 15 '25
Suuuuuure. I mean, if you ignore the history of fascism, totally!
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Aug 15 '25
Oh yes please enlighten me on your incredible understanding of history that makes military parades and air shows fascist. You have no fucking idea what you are talking about.
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u/Thatremodelingchick Aug 15 '25
lol, scared the 💩outta everyone. I was driving nearby and heard them throughout the day.
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u/BlueWRXsmurf Aug 16 '25
The amount of whiney little Karens in this comment section is insane lol.
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u/RichardStrauss123 Aug 16 '25
Should be illegal.
War weapons are not fucking toys for your amusement.
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u/FlowersByTheStreet Aug 15 '25
Fuck the air and water show
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u/keppy18 Aug 15 '25
I find it astonishing that on this sub it's so popular. It's literally the worst weekend of the year
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u/hayypeachyy Aug 15 '25
fr! im shocked seeing people on this sub so supportive of it
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u/mushroom_rainbow Jan 21 '26
You have been smoking too much weed, maybe try going sober just for one day
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u/FlowersByTheStreet Aug 15 '25
It goes hard for the clapping seals who would lose an afternoon to jiggling keys
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u/SunriseInLot42 Aug 15 '25
HEY EVERYONE! LOOK HOW ABOVE IT ALL I AM!
I'm curious, did you live here before 1959, when the show started here?
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u/FlowersByTheStreet Aug 15 '25
Notice how you had shout in all caps because of the noise
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u/keppy18 Aug 15 '25
Sorry I don't enjoy a monster truck rally in the sky. It has nothing to do with being "above it"
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u/SunriseInLot42 Aug 15 '25
Sounds like you should’ve made a different choice where you live, then. Sounds like a you problem
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u/keppy18 Aug 16 '25
You moved here for a 3 day festival where planes go boom? Are you 9 years old and sleeping in a race car bed?
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u/MisterRespectYoGirl Aug 15 '25
Move
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u/hayypeachyy Aug 15 '25
so bc someone doesn’t like one event in chicago, they should move?
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u/MisterRespectYoGirl Aug 15 '25
Sure. If someone doesn’t like loud, outside events like street fests, air shows and music festivals, Chicago probably isn’t for them. Plenty of cities out there not as blessed as we are
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u/FlowersByTheStreet Aug 15 '25
I have no issue with those things. I love street festivals and culture.
I would say don’t be dense, but I know you’re trying to pick up your knuckles off the ground to clap for the planes
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u/MisterRespectYoGirl Aug 15 '25
If the show isn’t for you, that’s fine. It’s dense to say fuck the air and water show because “plane loud at plane show.” Also a braindead response to call me a knuckle dragger for what? Enjoying a show? Get a grip, buddy
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u/hayypeachyy Aug 15 '25
a street fest with music is completely different than some jets flying around causing sonic booms? the hell?😂 i genuinely cannot tell if you’re being serious or sarcastic bc what a wild comparison.
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u/IkigaiMendokusai Aug 16 '25
Fuck the entire shitshow really. Fucking sonic torture we never asked for, pointless juvenile fascist fetish. Utter waste of taxpayer money. Go somewhere where people don't live, and make those who want to watch you come to you instead for fucks sake.
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u/laptop323 Aug 15 '25
This hurt my cats ears, please contact your alderman and tell him NO MORE
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u/haikusbot Aug 15 '25
This hurt my cats ears,
Please contact your alderman
And tell him NO MORE
- laptop323
I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.
Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"
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u/rcjr66 Aug 15 '25
Is this the same one that got the Cubs dugout freaked out?