I hate how St. Patrick's Day is celebrated

[zonelistener]

I hate green beer
I hate green plastic derbys (hats)
I hate green bagels
I hate four-leaved clovers
I hate Corned-beef and cabbage
I hate that Killian's claims that they are a "real Irish beer"
I hate fake Irish accents all day long
I hate green face paint and hair dye
I hate "being drunk is part of Irish culture"
I hate bagpipes

We have bastardized our Irish-American culture! And I hate it.

 

[zoomerang II]

aye...to be sure

 

[sulawesigirl4]

I was just pointing out the Killian's discrepancy to a friend the other day. It's 100% made-in-America for feck's sake.

 

[zonelistener]

Originally posted by sulawesigirl4:
I was just pointing out the Killian's discrepancy to a friend the other day. It's 100% made-in-America for feck's sake.

Coors to be exact

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Originally posted by zonelistener:
Coors to be exact

Please say it ain't so!

 

[Mrs. Edge]

Green bagels???? EEEEEWWW!!!!!

I must admit though, every St. Patrick's day, I have a green dinner. I have an orange dinner at Halloween and a red dinner at Valentine's.

Sorry zone, I hope I haven't disillusioned you! LOL!

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

Originally posted by sulawesigirl4:
I was just pointing out the Killian's discrepancy to a friend the other day. It's 100% made-in-America for feck's sake.

Drink Guinness instead - nobody can argue over whether that's Irish or not. And it's undoubtedly the greatest drink ever made. Mmmm.

Oh, and since when are bagpipes Irish anyway? But green beer sucks - it's just a waste of good beer.

What's everyone planning if you're celebrating St Patricks day?

 

[Bbug]

Actually bagpipes are found in lots of pastoral cultures. Where there are sheep, there are bagpipes... This came up in some class of mine the other day, we were looking at pictures of like Medieval spanish bagpipes or something...
Anyway, I think people just look for excuses to get drunk and party, I mean think about it...Fourth of July, New Year's Eve, pretty much EVERY holiday. They've all been commercialized, bastardized by Hallmark and Carlton Cards, and turned into mockeries. So just do whatever. I don't take it personally as an Irish-American that corned beef and cabbage isn't really an Irish dish and that the Disney channel is going to show "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" all month.
Why did I bother to post this!? Gah.

 

[bono-vox]

Originally posted by zonelistener:
I hate "being drunk is part of Irish culture"

but really us irish ppl..all they wanna do is get drunk...its the truth..

 

[dream wanderer]

I am not too fond of all those silly customs myself...but I like the idea of celebrating the Irish and what they contributed to our country...


dream wanderer

 

[Hallelujah Here She Comes]

Originally posted by zonelistener:
I hate green beer
I hate green plastic derbys (hats)
I hate green bagels
I hate four-leaved clovers
I hate Corned-beef and cabbage
I hate that Killian's claims that they are a "real Irish beer"
I hate fake Irish accents all day long
I hate green face paint and hair dye
I hate "being drunk is part of Irish culture"
I hate bagpipes

We have bastardized our Irish-American culture! And I hate it.

Can I agree with you even though I'm not Irish-American?

And can I add Shamrock Shakes to the list? I freaking hate those things.

 

[Hallelujah Here She Comes]

Originally posted by FizzingWhizzbees:
Oh, and since when are bagpipes Irish anyway?

Actually, there *are* Irish bagpipes. It's just that what we usually see (in St. Patrick's Day parades, for example) are Scottish bagpipes. Irish bagpipes are played sitting down and are thus a bit difficult to play while marching in a parade. But they do exist.

As for

 

[Lilly]

Originally posted by zonelistener:
I hate Corned-beef and cabbage.

It's actually a delicious meal. I owe a lot to a St. Patrick's Day party...to be exact I owe my existence. My parents met on St. Pat's day. I'm really Irish, indeed I'm Irish all year long. My family and I keep a lot of our traditions alive (which can get tricky sometimes since my family is Proto-Catholic). I like St. Pat's because people ask me a lot about Irishness and its culture. Though, I do agree with you on your points.

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Proud owner, maker and baker of THE U2 cookies.

 

[elevatedmole]

I agree with everything said here.

But I do have a question.

Was I misinformed, or is St. Patrick's Day in celebration of driving the "snakes" (Protestants) out of Ireland? I don't know. That's what I heard. But like I said, I'm clueless if it's true.

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"You must not look down on someone just 'cos they are 14 years old. When I was that age I listened to the music of John Lennon and it changed my way of seeing things, so I'm just glad that 14 year olds are coming to see U2 rather than group X." - Bono, 1988

 

[Bbug]

The "snakes" reference is to paganism. St Patrick died in the 400's or so, which is about a thousand years before Protestantism even existed. Technically Catholicism didn't exist either at the time, because Rome and Constantinople hadn't yet schismed (is that a word???) He just converted people to Early Christianity.
In many cultures snakes/dragons were associated with sort of Mother Goddess figures.

 

[The Wanderer]

I love me lucky charms with a pint of Guinness

shepherd's pie, mmmm, I don't think so

 

[theSoulfulMofo]

Sometimes I think I'm Irish.

But I think that's the Guinness talking.

 

[Calluna]

I agree that most of our modern holidays have been overly commercialized but if you look deeper you can still find the hidden meaning in these celebrations. Most of our modern holidays have pagan roots. Saint's days in particular were usually attempts by the church to co-opt an existing pagan festival and change it into a Christian holy day. There probably never was a real St. Patrick. He was most likely a Christian appropriation of an existing figure in Celtic mythology.

If you think about it, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated right around the spring equinox, the time when day and night are equal. I think its really about celebrating Spring, the return of the sun and all the green plants coming back to life after a long winter.




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We plants are happy plants.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Things dyed green make me wanna puke.

But, yeah-I'll be out this weekend, just like everybody else.

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I hear voices, ridiculous voices

 

[zooropamanda]

Our St Paddy's Day gets rather silly and we have a daggy parade which I go to every year.
Friends of mine from Ireland say its much bigger in other parts of the world. The one day when everyone pretends to be Irish.

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I am a cowgirl of funk*

 

[electrical storm]

I like Shamrock Shakes!

 

[zonelistener]

Oh, I forgot, I hate leprachauns too (This is another great thing Disney has done for American culture).

Many Americans think bag pipes are Irish.

I go to a "anti" St. Patrick's Day St. Patrick's Day Party. Guiness and Harp are served, we play traditional music (and U2 when I can get it on), and complain about the idiots wearing green derbys and are talking like leprechauns.

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Originally posted by zonelistener:
I go to a "anti" St. Patrick's Day St. Patrick's Day Party. Guiness and Harp are served, we play traditional music (and U2 when I can get it on), and complain about the idiots wearing green derbys and are talking like leprechauns.

I wanna go to THAT party.

 

[unforgettableFOXfire]

Aye, top-a-the marnin to ye.
*SMACK*
Fake Irish accents are irritating, there are times when its funny, but for the most part its irritating. And yes, society bastardizes a great many things, just one of the hordes of reasons why Im going to get some pointy implements of death, poisonous lizards, and live in a cave for the rest of my life.

 

[brettig]

the saint paddy's day celebrations at my uni are a nice touch i say- we have a bbq

 

[V Nura]

Being Irish myself I can't agree more


ok ok ok...I'm black Irish...happy???

 

[elevatedmole]

Originally posted by Bbug:
The "snakes" reference is to paganism. St Patrick died in the 400's or so, which is about a thousand years before Protestantism even existed. Technically Catholicism didn't exist either at the time, because Rome and Constantinople hadn't yet schismed (is that a word???) He just converted people to Early Christianity.
In many cultures snakes/dragons were associated with sort of Mother Goddess figures.

Thanks Bbug

I knew that didn't sound right when I posted it.

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"You must not look down on someone just 'cos they are 14 years old. When I was that age I listened to the music of John Lennon and it changed my way of seeing things, so I'm just glad that 14 year olds are coming to see U2 rather than group X." - Bono, 1988

 

[joyfulgirl]

I hated stepping over human defecation and vomit in my doorwell every March 18 when I lived in NYC...

But now I work for classy Irish-Americans who close our offices for both St. Patrick's Day and Bloom's Day.

 

[sulawesigirl4]

I just wandered into the workroom and foundd a plate of green cookies. Not only were they dusted with green sugar, but apparently the dough was green as well. Green everywhere. I wonder if my mouth is green now?

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

Originally posted by Hallelujah Here She Comes:
Actually, there *are* Irish bagpipes. It's just that what we usually see (in St. Patrick's Day parades, for example) are Scottish bagpipes. Irish bagpipes are played sitting down and are thus a bit difficult to play while marching in a parade. But they do exist.

Wow, I honestly didn't know that. Thanks for enlightening me