Leprechaun, you are the good faery. We *do* believe in you. Yer the Salt of the Earth & the Host of the Air. Never disappear! Now would yez please turn all dis water into Murphy's Stout. Thankyou. (See St. Patrick's Day jokes thread)

The stupid monkeymick leprechaun image is massculturally locked in here in the good ole U. S. of A. We homogenize & trivialize things. Stereotypes R US. I say don't fuss too much about it, it ain't worth it any more./ There ARE many alternative St. Patrick's cards on the market. Religious, patriotic, schmaltzy, reasonably-funny, etc. etc. One year when the validity of Pat's canonization, or historical existence, was being questioned I received one fom a lapsed-Catholic-like-me friend reading (cover) "I'd wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day but St. Patrick isn't a Saint any more." (inside) "But then -- who is?" I liked that./ Today I bought one captioned "What REALLY drove the snakes out of Ireland": picturing the reptiles slithering lemming-like off the precipice of a coastal headland, pursued by a red-haired greensuited fiddler calling out, "Okay. How about ANOTHER folk song?!" :)