Shook the Shamrock

Being in Chicago for St. Patrick's Day is special. The dying of the river happened early yesterday morning, followed by a parade downtown followed by green beer and Irish cuisine galore. I missed the dying of the river and the parade, but I made sure to partake in afternoon festivities. For someone who is about 40% Irish, I had to make sure I got at least that amount of cheerio good times in amongst the Green clad rushing from bar-to-bar. And we did.

I'm not usually the "bar-to-bar" type. St. Patty's day is different. Whether you are Irish or not, you join in the festivities of celebrating the Mighty Green. I don't doubt many join in just for the fun of it all, but there is another element at work too - the awareness of and recognition around a certain culture, a certain population of people proud of who they are and where they came/come from. If only all nationalities celebrated the rituals and traditions (and not just drinking!) of their respective social location - I think pride in this sense is a good thing - serving as a sense of community, highlighting the positive, noticing their interdependence, common background, and unique bond.

And so we did. I met a couple friends downtown, had a few drinks with them as they finished their lunch. We traced on via Taxi to another bar to engage the Irishness there, and went on to yet another bar to be special and take part in the specials. While at this bar we made out with green flashing necklaces and of course the standard green beads - and no, nothing immoral was done for such festive garb. Finally, we ended the afternoon (evening?) at our final bar, partaking in the last of the green beers of the day, toasting an afternoon well attended. If you know anything about the over-consumption of beverages - and of course Irish people as well - you know by this point in the evening a meal was much in demand. With the monte cristo scarfed down, I headed north towards home, full of beverages and food, full of Irish cheer and proud of my heritage.