Tonight my brother-in-law and a friend fly in from Belfast to come to lovely Cedar Rapids Iowa to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day. In a couple of days, friends are coming from Boston to add themselves to the meleé. That’s right…people are leaving Belfast and Boston to come to the city of five smells to celebrate an Irish holiday.
I don’t get it. I live in Iowa and I’m running an Irish frat party for adult men who should know better.
There will be drinking. There will be singing. There will be weird, unintelligible accents. The locals will ask where my husband is from and he’ll calmly reply, “West of Dubuque.”
That said, I’m wearing an Irish rugby jersey and flashing shamrock earrings at work. So I guess I’m just as bad as any of the boys, except I’m what my husband would call a “plastic Paddy.”
Anyone know where I can hide out for a few days until the green beer blows over?
I don’t have one single green thing to wear - except for some boxers.
Several years ago when Ireland joined the EU, I bought a bunch of Irish pennies - the last that were minted - to hand out at a St. Patrick’s day celebration as good luck charms. Alas, since then I haven’t been to one.
My husband’s crew is from Northern Ireland, so they’re still using Pounds, which confuses things a bit more, IMHO. They’re in a situation where they have to have both Pounds and Euros. One country, two types of money. Weird.
I actually have tons of green stuff, but nothing quite as obnoxious as what I’m wearing…the rugby jersey my bro-in-law left me when he came a couple of years ago. It’s seriously screaming green.
Yes, husband calls himself Catholic, but doesn’t go to mass typically. I think he just identifies culturally with the Catholic…went to Catholic schools, etc.
I was raised “protestant” but am now basically an atheist in spite of the fact that my hubby sometimes refers to me as a “dirty prod.”
I actually hate beer. The accents are terrific though! Oh, and the music will be good.
I’m not Catholic, and I’m sitting in Tennessee in my green sweater. But we had a St. Patrick’s Day potluck at work, which was much enjoyed (special props to the Guinness cupcakes), despite the fact that out of our 22 person office, two raised their hands when asked “Who’s of Irish descent?”
Tonight I’m going out for St. Paddy’s Day with friends, for corned beef and beer. For, as someone (not Benjamin Franklin) once said, “Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy.”