That’s a bit unfair. There’s a strong sentiment for Irish republicanism, not for the IRA. Granted, there are IRA supporters, but most Americans just don’t get it - and are horrified to discover the truth. Cf. the recent furore over Peter King holding congressional hearings on radical Islam when he was an IRA fundraiser.
I hate excuse-to-binge-drink holidays as much as I hate Hallmark holidays (Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day). They are both just cash grabs.
I drink and enjoy drinking with a few friends in a quiet setting. I don’t like bars, in general, on non-excuse-to-drink days. So St. Patrick’s Day, Mardi Gras, Cinco de Mayo… all those manufactured “holidays” wherein alcoholics get to just be open about their addictions make the bars completely unteneble for me. There’s no parking, the people are louder and more obnoxious than usual. Bleargh.
The dance studio where I take pole dance lessons is located in between a couple of campus bars, one of which is hosting a 26-hour party. Can you say “excessive” boys and girls? I thought you could! So my studio is closed today-- no pole class for me. :sad: I invited the women from my class over to my house tonight to do an impromptu self-directed pole workshop instead. Most of us are 9-5 office worker types and are not much into drinking ourselves into a coma during the week.
I don’t hate St. Patrick’s Day but I am one of those who gets a little impatient with the Irish-Americans whose ancestors came over what, six or seven generations ago? and know absolutely nothing about life in modern-day Ireland. Just because you’re drinking beer with green food dye in it and listen to U2 doesn’t mean you know anything about being Irish.
I know, I’m being a grouch.
As an expression of Irish nationalism, I’m fine with it. America has turned it to schlock, but then as Lenny Bruce would say America turns anything to schlock.
From a religious angle, I can see how Celtic Pagans would have little to celebrate in connection with the destruction of their faith.
With your permission, I am SO stealing this line. Well, and swapping out for the appropriate ancestry. I wish I’d had this reasoning to whip out once or twice in my past … very succinct. Thank you.
I like #1, but your ancestors probably left Ireland because they were broke and hungry.
I don’t see any reason to celebrate it. I only celebrate one Christian holiday and that’s such a deeply ingrained tradition. . .plus there’s PRESENTS!
I don’t drink, I don’t like corned beef and I don’t look good in green. I see no reason to celebrate St. Pat’s day.
Half of my Irish ancestors left Ireland and went to Barbados and Trinidad, which is great excuse to drink a lot of rum and bang on a steel drum.
I’m a fan of binge drinking, preserved meat, and aggressive oirish singalongs - no, really - so I generally have a good time on St. Patrick’s. Plus, I’ve got red hair (Scottish, mostly, but whatever’s clever), and so I get extra points today. My friends and I plan to get together at someone’s house and get rowdy until we run out of beer. Then we’ll load up with the few nondrinkers driving and head out to a local punk/Irish dive bar where some of our friends are playing and continue to down pints until we fall over.
However, I know the exact area that Dogzilla’s talking about - we live in the same town - and you can bet I won’t be going anywhere near there. I do hear that the local frat bars have hired Paris Hilton to come party there tonight. I know, it makes no sense to me, either, but hey - at least that will have most of the local cops concentrated in one area.
That Paris Hilton thing was bullshit, btw. Turns out, it was Floyd’s that tried to hire her and thought they were dealing with her real, actual agent. It was just some bogus poseur agent trying to scam some money off the club; Hilton’s agent never got with them. (Because how would it benefit Hilton to make a party appearance in high-society [This town]? Anyone who will think it through for a minute – why a PR whore would even make public appearances – would conclude, quickly, that unless it was very lucrative or provides revenue-generating exposure, appearing in some frat bar in some small Florida town would hardly be worth her time.) LOL. So there won’t be any Paris Hilton, but the Art of the Catwalk Kittens will be booty and go-go dancing all day and night. I will not be among them for reasons previously stated. 
That’s hilarious! And strangely awesome, actually. I’ll still be far, far away from the Strip tonight. Well, as far as Gaines Street, anyway.
The only thing worse than St. Patty’s Day would be St. Patty’s Day in Tallahassee.
People who live in glass Orlandos shouldn’t throw stones.
(I kid, I kid. Pint of beer?)
Okay, but only if it isn’t green.
Nah. There ought to be more holidays focused on getting hammered with your friends and enjoying life.
Steal away. 
According to family apocrypha, not so much. They were Irish Protestants, not Irish Catholics, and so apparently not as hardscrabble poor. They came to America to grab land in Nebraska in the land rush.
But promptly adopted German cuisine from their neighbors/my other ancestors. So if German food was an improvement… the Irish stuff couldn’t have been that great.
On that, we are in complete agreement. “Here’s to green in your pocket and not in your glass.”
I like the fun silliness of it, though not to such an extent that I will buy kitschy decorations at Michael’s. My daughter does Irish dance, so it’s a bit of a ‘season.’ And we always have to have a proper dinner.
I really dislike the drinking that goes on downtown. The local college–which on the whole is a good thing–has a huge party culture. The bars used to open at 6am, but now they stay closed until 10am in an effort to tone it down a bit. The administration has pretty much given in to the madness, and now takes spring break over St. Patrick’s Day because no one would come to class anyhow. Halloween is the same–a normal fun day for most of the city, but don’t go downtown unless you enjoy stepping in puddles of vomit.
Eeeehhhh, I don’t hate it. Mostly I just wish we could have an Irish Heritage Day that doesn’t entail celebrating a man whose only claim to fame is that he persecuted people for their religion. The snakes are a [del]lie[/del] metaphor. I don’t admire that.
Yes, it happened along time ago, what’s done is done, and no one in the pub is thinking about the actual guy who was Patrick, they’re just taking their excuse to drink heavily and party. This moderates my feelings to “don’t hate it,” but it still rankles a bit that we’re holding up this guy, however loosely, as someone to celebrate.
As far as I can see, other than the name itself and the national identification, St. Patrick’s Day has nothing whatever to do with the historical Patrick.