Saturday, March 17, 2012

Happy Saint Patrick's Day (Part 2)

Your Bloviator lunched today with friends in midtown, just off Fifth Avenue, and so found himself plunged into the midst of the Saint Patrick's Day parade. After taking in countless idiots attired in big dopey green top hats or big dopey green spectacles etc. and later observing wearers of same shrieking vile obscenities to no one in particular, puking the vast quantities of green beer funneled down earlier, something unfortunate ocurred: the exquisite and finely-honed Episcopalian snobbery I thought I had rid myself forever upon reception into the Holy Catholic Church flooded my soul anew.

I love Ireland: the country, the people and the culture but for the life of me cannot understand how it came to be acceptable, in the United States anyway, the birthday in heaven of a great nation's patron saint be desecrated by myriad yahoos making such bloody asses of themselves.

2 comments:

William Tighe said...

Green isn't even (before 1848) the symbolic Irish color; rather, dark blue.

Ecgbert said...

I forgot about dark blue; thanks.

Of course American St Patrick's Day isn't about the saint or Ireland but a celebration of the immigrants succeeding here, turning into a general excuse to drink and party as the immigrant story recedes into history. It's merging with Mardi Gras among young partiers, with green plastic beads. I understand Dublin now has a big American-style parade, probably for tourists.