Well, I survived another Saint Patrick's Day

[Faust]

It was like playing the old video game Bump N Jump, driving into San Antonio on Saturday night, weaving all over the road to avoid the drunks who were weaving all over the road.  Let me say again that St Patrick's Day is no excuse for being Irish in public.

Interesting thing about the Irish is that they INSIST on being more Irish than, say, a Belgian would insist that he/she was Belgian.  It's almost like they have a guilty conscience because they or their ancestors bailed on Ireland (all roads lead OUT of Ireland, historically).

Hell, even their Dail (pronouced "Doyle"), ie, their parliament, has to say everything in English AND Gaelic, even though everyone in Ireland speaks English and almost nobody speaks Gaelic.  It's some form of weird search for authenticity, sort of like if the Italians suddenly decided they all needed to learn Latin, because their ancestors spoke it at some point in the past.

But the worst thing is, on one day every year, EVERYONE pretends they're Irish, and you are made to feel guilty if you aren't Irish, and especially if you don't even lie about it.

Personally, I'm Cornish.  This has precisely zero bearing on my life.  The fact that my ancestors were all pirates and/or sheep thieves 500 years ago means nothing to me, whatsoever.  I would in fact find it odd if they suddenly had a Saint Boots day, where I had to wear rubber boots, a hankerchief on my head, and a sweater vest...and then drink myself stupid on whatever it is that Cornish people drink (I suspect that would be "methanol").

This makes me wonder why being Irish is so fucking important to people of Irish descent.

I would welcome the input of any bog-hoppers who happen to be present, if they can clear this up for me.

Okay for now,
Dok

It doesn't matter in the least to any real Irish person. And the Dail thing is wrong, it's english or Irish but is mostly english. However if you wanted to challenge another ministers authority you speak to him in Irish and he HAS to respond in Irish or he will be the laughingstock of his party.

Faust,
Spent the last three days working through a holiday.

[Faust]

It's a great way to keep a population under control. Keep em poor and keep em hungry if they're not playing ball. Not a great way to give up their identity or ease their bitterness towards history.

Terrible, what all those dead Englishmen MADE you do.   

The brits arn't angels in the north. The black and tans killed plenty of people. No one comes out of the troubles looking good.

[Cain]

Which reminds me, Nike released a new set of trainers called Black and Tan around St. Patrick's Day.

[Faust]

Which reminds me, Nike released a new set of trainers called Black and Tan around St. Patrick's Day.

Keep it classy Nike.

[Juana]

That's a drink over here. That might be why Nike did that.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Yep its a half pint of guinness floating on a half pint of bass. Dreadfully appropriate.

[Prince Glittersnatch III]

St. Patrick's day was uneventful for me, I didnt even realize it had came until the day after.  But I live in the UP, so I suppose it would be stranger if I did notice something, like if a Fish noticed there was a lot more water around him than usual.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Kundalini sweat lodges. 

THAT'S JUST WRONG.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

That seems to be my family's line of thinking. The Johnathan Strange thing is what made my great-something-odd grandfather lead the group who chased the Mormons out of the tiny settlement they were living in.

Can you t ell me about it or link me to a page? Google is just giving me links to things having to do with a novel I never finished.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Glittersnatch- i spent most of mine cooking actually. Granted it was a shitload of irish food but villager and i spent most of it in the kitchen and the livingroom. I had zero interest in going to the parade or any pubs.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I think that can be true, for people who have the knee jerk reaction of THE IRA FUCK YEAH! and such, but I think it can be part of an identity without overwhelming the rest of you. An identity should be greater than the sum of its parts, yes?

Well, sure.  I'm not saying that it's BAD to have that as part of your identity...It's just that St Patrick's Day turns many (insert e prime crap here) otherwise intelligent people into the Irish version of NASCAR fans, which grates on the nerves as badly as listening to Texans talk about Texas.

It's pretty fucking tiresome. In general, who their great-grandparents fucked is the least interesting aspect of a person's identity. If it comes up and it's directly relevant or a good joke can be had, sure. But the people who just constantly have to remind you of how Irish they are seem to be using it as a replacement for having an actual personality. It's like an indigenous American ending every statement with "A ho" or a black person changing their name to Kunte Kinte and then constantly being all "It's because I'm black, isn't it?"

Although at least if you're black there's a pretty good chance that people are treating you like you're black without you mentioning it. Irish in America can't get any oppression anymore because nobody can tell them apart from any other honkeys without them mentioning it. Constantly.

Fucking St. Patrick's Day. Some ass in the bar yesterday asked me why I wasn't wearing green. It's BECAUSE I'M NOT IRISH AND I COULD NOT GIVE A SINGLE FUCK ABOUT THE COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT HOLIDAY IN WHICH SUBURBANITES COME TO THE CITY TO DRINK GREEN PISS-BEER. What March 17th means to me is my best friend's birthday, and that's all it will ever be.

Oh, and then I have to drive home in fear for my life because of all the drunk drivers. And miss a perfectly good show in St. John's, because driving to St. John's on the day when every white person in the city is using some tenuous and/or manufactured link to "Irishness" to justify getting wasted by 4 in the afternoon makes St. John's an even drunker and more dangerous place than it normally is, which is considerably drunk and dangerous.

Or I'm Legally Black Kill Me.

[Doktor Howl]

Fucking St. Patrick's Day. Some ass in the bar yesterday asked me why I wasn't wearing green. It's BECAUSE I'M NOT IRISH AND I COULD NOT GIVE A SINGLE FUCK ABOUT THE COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT HOLIDAY IN WHICH SUBURBANITES COME TO THE CITY TO DRINK GREEN PISS-BEER. What March 17th means to me is my best friend's birthday, and that's all it will ever be.

The above.

The correct answer to the ass's question, though, is:

"Because I plan to beat you black & blue, you fucked up little monkey."

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Fucking St. Patrick's Day. Some ass in the bar yesterday asked me why I wasn't wearing green. It's BECAUSE I'M NOT IRISH AND I COULD NOT GIVE A SINGLE FUCK ABOUT THE COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT HOLIDAY IN WHICH SUBURBANITES COME TO THE CITY TO DRINK GREEN PISS-BEER. What March 17th means to me is my best friend's birthday, and that's all it will ever be.

The above.

The correct answer to the ass's question, though, is:

"Because I plan to beat you black & blue, you fucked up little monkey."

Also, I meant day before yesterday. I've been there way too often lately.

[Faust]

I think that can be true, for people who have the knee jerk reaction of THE IRA FUCK YEAH! and such, but I think it can be part of an identity without overwhelming the rest of you. An identity should be greater than the sum of its parts, yes?

Well, sure.  I'm not saying that it's BAD to have that as part of your identity...It's just that St Patrick's Day turns many (insert e prime crap here) otherwise intelligent people into the Irish version of NASCAR fans, which grates on the nerves as badly as listening to Texans talk about Texas.

It's pretty fucking tiresome. In general, who their great-grandparents fucked is the least interesting aspect of a person's identity. If it comes up and it's directly relevant or a good joke can be had, sure. But the people who just constantly have to remind you of how Irish they are seem to be using it as a replacement for having an actual personality. It's like an indigenous American ending every statement with "A ho" or a black person changing their name to Kunte Kinte and then constantly being all "It's because I'm black, isn't it?"

Although at least if you're black there's a pretty good chance that people are treating you like you're black without you mentioning it. Irish in America can't get any oppression anymore because nobody can tell them apart from any other honkeys without them mentioning it. Constantly.

Fucking St. Patrick's Day. Some ass in the bar yesterday asked me why I wasn't wearing green. It's BECAUSE I'M NOT IRISH AND I COULD NOT GIVE A SINGLE FUCK ABOUT THE COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT HOLIDAY IN WHICH SUBURBANITES COME TO THE CITY TO DRINK GREEN PISS-BEER. What March 17th means to me is my best friend's birthday, and that's all it will ever be.

Oh, and then I have to drive home in fear for my life because of all the drunk drivers. And miss a perfectly good show in St. John's, because driving to St. John's on the day when every white person in the city is using some tenuous and/or manufactured link to "Irishness" to justify getting wasted by 4 in the afternoon makes St. John's an even drunker and more dangerous place than it normally is, which is considerably drunk and dangerous.

Or I'm Legally Black Kill Me.

I thought you got that with Italians any every other group your migrants came from not just Irish.

[Doktor Howl]

I think that can be true, for people who have the knee jerk reaction of THE IRA FUCK YEAH! and such, but I think it can be part of an identity without overwhelming the rest of you. An identity should be greater than the sum of its parts, yes?

Well, sure.  I'm not saying that it's BAD to have that as part of your identity...It's just that St Patrick's Day turns many (insert e prime crap here) otherwise intelligent people into the Irish version of NASCAR fans, which grates on the nerves as badly as listening to Texans talk about Texas.

It's pretty fucking tiresome. In general, who their great-grandparents fucked is the least interesting aspect of a person's identity. If it comes up and it's directly relevant or a good joke can be had, sure. But the people who just constantly have to remind you of how Irish they are seem to be using it as a replacement for having an actual personality. It's like an indigenous American ending every statement with "A ho" or a black person changing their name to Kunte Kinte and then constantly being all "It's because I'm black, isn't it?"

Although at least if you're black there's a pretty good chance that people are treating you like you're black without you mentioning it. Irish in America can't get any oppression anymore because nobody can tell them apart from any other honkeys without them mentioning it. Constantly.

Fucking St. Patrick's Day. Some ass in the bar yesterday asked me why I wasn't wearing green. It's BECAUSE I'M NOT IRISH AND I COULD NOT GIVE A SINGLE FUCK ABOUT THE COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT HOLIDAY IN WHICH SUBURBANITES COME TO THE CITY TO DRINK GREEN PISS-BEER. What March 17th means to me is my best friend's birthday, and that's all it will ever be.

Oh, and then I have to drive home in fear for my life because of all the drunk drivers. And miss a perfectly good show in St. John's, because driving to St. John's on the day when every white person in the city is using some tenuous and/or manufactured link to "Irishness" to justify getting wasted by 4 in the afternoon makes St. John's an even drunker and more dangerous place than it normally is, which is considerably drunk and dangerous.

Or I'm Legally Black Kill Me.

I thought you got that with Italians any every other group your migrants came from not just Irish.

To some degree (Guidos, etc, etc).  But Irish-Americans are in a league all their own, when it comes to bellowing out their heritage, and then insisting that everyone go along with it.