St. Patrick's Day

I'm always surprised at what a big deal St. Patrick's Day is in Pittsburgh. Especially here on the Southside, where there are (purportedly) more bars per square mile than anywhere else in the country, two of them Irish. This meant that drunk yinzers staggered by our house from morning til night, most of them wearing everything green they could get their hands on, which made for some pretty humorous moments.

But my favorite St. Patrick's Day moment by far was the sight of a drag queen, decked out in a green mini-dress, gigiantic blonde wig, and heels, drunk and attempting repeatedly to walk through a revolving door that had been locked. Hilarious.

Other than an opprtunity to laugh at drunks, St. Patty's Day means very little to me. I'm not a big drinker, and even though I now have an overtly Irish last name (that rhymes very unfortunately with my first name), I don't really identify all that much with the teeny bit of Irish blood that I inherited from my mom (which is actually a very controversial topic in her family: her grandmother's generation denied that they were Irish to avoid discrimination/stereotypes). I can appreciate some Irish literature (I've even been won over to Joyce), I like some traditional and contemporary Irish music, and I'd like to visit the country someday, but these things are not a large part of my life. And honestly, the Celtic aesthetic doesn't really resonate with me, probably because it's so overused, and by individuals categorized under a different form of nerdiness than me.

Mike is Irish and Eastern European (like many Pittsburghers), but he's never been that interested in his nationalities. While I'm a first generation American, he's probably a third or fourth, and while I grew up with my Sicilian grandparents, his Irish grandparents died before he was born. So, he's just as uninterested in St. Patrick's Day as I am.

Still, I'll look forward to my occasional visits to Piper's Pub and The Harp and the Fiddle, where I will indulge in strong Irish beer and the VERY few items on the menu without meat.