To me, an Irish drunk ginger who is only celebrated once a year, the loss of St. Patrick’s Day last year was a tough one.
I waited years to step out on March 17th in a fresh green fit, ditch my fake, and legally bar hop the day away…and last year was finally my time to shine.
But…I wasn’t able to follow through with my big plans.
In fact, none of us were.
You remember, it was the week we all collectively stepped into our first ever Pandemic. Which was forecasted to last a few weeks, give or take. Well….HERE WE ARE. COMING UP ON A FULL YEAR!!!!! GOING IN FOR A ROUND TWO OF CANCELING MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY.
Some people go nuts for fireworks on the 4th, or get off by starting political fights on Thanksgiving…but for me, a day revolved around drinking green beer is one I can’t live without.
There will be no real Blarney Weekend at my school, UMass.
There will be no parades.
There will be no rivers dyed green.
….okay, maybe Texas will still participate in all the fun, but that’s a whole other thing.
As for the rest of us, we’ve been ripped away from all these festivities.
Like Dixie D’Amelio sings; the whole thing is just “really really really really sad.”
I know my boy Patrick is rolling in his grave right now. This dude ran out all those snakes FOR NOTHING.
Corona took my whole friend group’s 21st birthdays away, it took a percentage of my relatively decent looking years away, and now it’s taking away a holiday that has been celebrated for centuries…FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW.
Every year, I do my best to go big or go the fuck home on this day…in honor of my ancestors of course. And just because I can’t freely bar hop or shotgun a beer while watching a guy in a skirt blow air out of some bags…that doesn’t mean I won’t celebrate accordingly. I will still be getting piss drunk and singing riddled tunes, just….alone and upset.
So…reach out to your Irish friends with a long history of alcoholism this St. Patrick’s Day, we’re going through it.