St. Patty's Dissected

I am not one for St. Patrick's Day. From my perspective, if you don't wear green, you get harassed because, hello, its St. Patrick's Day and you have to wear green or you will get pinched. But if you do wear green, then you get harassed because apparently its childish to follow in the traditions of the holiday? I don't know, catch 22. And with my history of being surrounded by men at work all day, some form of harassment is a daily event. Therefore, I truly dread St. Patrick's Day because I never know what to wear (Sounds ridiculous but its true). This morning as I was trying to pick out my green but not so green outfit for the day, I wondered if this was even a real holiday. I don't remember what I learned in elementary school about it, imagine that. Lucky for me though, The Early Show was on and they had my answer, as they had an anchor in Ireland broadcasting from the huge parade. So it is an Irish holiday. Okay, so why in the heck do we celebrate it then? This led me to Google. I love Google. The History Channel website taught me all about the 16 year old British boy who was kidnapped and taken to Ireland and then when he was released he became a priest, adopted the Christian name Patrick, and went back to Ireland to teach Christianity. Legend has it he used a clover to teach the trinity (3 leaves....Godhead....got it). Ireland celebrates St. Patrick because of his movement for Christianity. So when people began immigrating to the US, the Irish Catholics brought their traditions with them, including this holiday that isn't really a holiday because the banks are still open. And now people celebrate by wearing green, taking off work, and drinking green beer all day. Sounds super Christian, right? It surprises me that these days, people need an excuse to go get wasted at a bar for hours on end. But apparently, they do, so that is why we have St. Patrick's Day.

(Forgive me all Irish Catholics, this post isn't meant to offend).

P.S. My attitude really isn't as bad as it sounds. I am going to a St. Patrick's Day party tonight as a matter of fact. And I promise, that when I have children, I will speak no ill of St. Patrick's Day in front of them. Can't spoil the holiday for the kiddies.