02.41
Thopoles
When I was growing up and well into my early twenties, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day in a way that would be wholly unrecognizable to what we see these days. In my day, the day was spent actually honoring St. Patrick and Ireland. There was a special mass, we said our prayers, we cooked a special meal, and then all of the men would meet down at the local watering hole and knock back a few while telling stories about our forefathers. We certainly didn't get sick on green beer and wear outrageous Irish t-shirts.
I can't even tell you when the change happened that took us from the time-honored traditions of Ireland to just partying like fools on St. Patrick's Day. For goodness' sake, the holiday is meant to be a religious day! I don't know how that translates to drunken frivolity and crazy Irish tshirts, but it certainly has become that way. It has transferred from a day that dwells on the past to a day that is all about living in the moment. That is a change that I cannot abide.
If these kids were actually honoring the Irish people and our heritage, then I would be willing to let the debauchery and craziness slide. Most of these kids only celebrate the holiday as a cartoonish version of what it was meant to be. Their drinking Irish tshirts are nothing but offensive caricatures of what the holiday is all about. Most of them aren't even Irish, for goodness sake! All of the leprechauns and shamrock business is just offensive to me.
Do you want to know what will keep one old fart from griping and grumbling while he sits at a bar on St. Patrick's Day surrounded by goofballs in cheap Irish shirts? If one of them would just sit down next to me and ask me about my history. I would love to educate some inquisitive young fellow on everything that Ireland means to me. I would buy that kid a shot and we would toast the Emerald Isle and I would leave with a smile. That, however, has never happened.
I know you've read this article and are thinking that I'm the most ornery man on the planet. Well, I don't sit on my front porch and yell at kids to get off my front lawn. I just want the homeland of my people honored like it should be, and those silly Irish tees just don't cut it. It also needs to be mentioned that once I'm good and toasted on Saint Patrick's Day, I tend to care a lot less about what shirts people are wearing and how young they are. After a few pints, everyone is Irish on Saint Patrick's Day.
I can't even tell you when the change happened that took us from the time-honored traditions of Ireland to just partying like fools on St. Patrick's Day. For goodness' sake, the holiday is meant to be a religious day! I don't know how that translates to drunken frivolity and crazy Irish tshirts, but it certainly has become that way. It has transferred from a day that dwells on the past to a day that is all about living in the moment. That is a change that I cannot abide.
If these kids were actually honoring the Irish people and our heritage, then I would be willing to let the debauchery and craziness slide. Most of these kids only celebrate the holiday as a cartoonish version of what it was meant to be. Their drinking Irish tshirts are nothing but offensive caricatures of what the holiday is all about. Most of them aren't even Irish, for goodness sake! All of the leprechauns and shamrock business is just offensive to me.
Do you want to know what will keep one old fart from griping and grumbling while he sits at a bar on St. Patrick's Day surrounded by goofballs in cheap Irish shirts? If one of them would just sit down next to me and ask me about my history. I would love to educate some inquisitive young fellow on everything that Ireland means to me. I would buy that kid a shot and we would toast the Emerald Isle and I would leave with a smile. That, however, has never happened.
I know you've read this article and are thinking that I'm the most ornery man on the planet. Well, I don't sit on my front porch and yell at kids to get off my front lawn. I just want the homeland of my people honored like it should be, and those silly Irish tees just don't cut it. It also needs to be mentioned that once I'm good and toasted on Saint Patrick's Day, I tend to care a lot less about what shirts people are wearing and how young they are. After a few pints, everyone is Irish on Saint Patrick's Day.
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