The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #89855 Message #1697871
Posted By: GUEST
19-Mar-06 - 01:21 PM
Thread Name: BS: Wearin' O' the Orange on Paddy's Day
Subject: RE: BS: Wearin' O' the Orange on Paddy's Day
This one is interesting. It tracks hits to the Irish Eyes webblog, apparently.
And then there is this fascinating tidbit of orange/green urban legendry over at saintpatricksdayparade.com, about the dying of the Chicago River for the day.
And here is an interesting spin from another blog:
"This year, I am particularly annoyed that St. Patrick's Day is on a Friday, one of the few days I can go out and not worry about being in bed at a reasonable hour. Plus, I usually head to the Coat of Arms for an after work beer on Fridays, but because the bar has a British Isles theme, it's going to be packed. This despite the fact the bar is English. I guess Americans don't understand the centuries of animosity drilled into my head by my British grandmother.
That may be why I shy away from the holiday. My grandmother would school us even if we accidentally work green on St. Patrick's Day. "You are not Irish. You are English and must wear orange." I don't remember why orange exactly, but I think it had to do with some battle where the English crushed the Irish and the English happened to be wearing orange at the time. I never really went for this, mostly because I didn't think it was appropriate to symbolically give the finger to an entire culture on the one day they gather to party.
So whether you hole up in a bunker with Newcastle or dress like the Celtics mascot, Lucky, have a good time. St. Patrick's Day is about having fun and, yes, drinking, but it's also about pride. Whatever you do, try not to disgrace the Irish. They've been through enough already."
From After Dark with Beth LaMontagne at BlogtheCoast.com.