Top o' the Mornin'

I'm not going to pretend that I was entirely looking forward to St Patrick's Day. It's different on this side of the world. For one thing, you're expected to work. And by work, they mean actual work. Not sit around with a hip flask of Jameson and pre-drink. So, I did. And when I was finished, I got on the bus and fell asleep, because that's just what I do on the bus home. I woke, as per usual (I have the timing down on this, by the way), as the bus was entering it's Express part of the journey. This is really where this post originates.

A guy got on the bus, clearly dressed for a party and talking - nay, pleading - with his girlfriend. Apart from the whining - "but I waaaannnnnnaaa . . ." - I was particularly impressed with the guilt trip that he managed to lay on her by way of "it's just like Valentines Day", and thereby implying that while Valentines is ALL about the girl, Paddy's is a free pass for the guy to get drunk and do what he wants. Our man in question, now realising that a relationship often means that you can no longer be that single drunken lout entertaining your friends, offers an olive branch in the lines of "we'll go somewhere quiet".

Now, the whole situation got me thinking of just what it means to be Irish at St. Patrick's Day, and particularly Irish and abroad. It's not officially like home, because at home, yes we do go to the bar and have a few drinks and pretend it's an extra weekend day wherever it may fall in the week. But largely, we leave the token green things behind us and as often as not, try to find a pub that just carries on as it has always done. We don't do the St Patrick's greeting cards, for instance.

Being Irish on St Patrick's Day is a uniquely complex thing. No other nation on earth inspires a global day of celebration on such a scale. Neither July 4 nor July 14th instigate the same scenes, only with American or French overtones. It could be argued that this is because these are days which commemorate domestic events that don't strike a cord the way a Christian Saint would. It is after all, just like Valentines. However, I challenge any of you to name the feast day of St. George, patron of England. Anyone? The other thing that did strike me this year was just how many people of a non-Christian background marked the occasion. I saw a number of people who I know to be Islamic wearing green last Wednesday, so clearly March 17 has crossed the borders of religious differences.

It does partly boil down to just how far the Irish have flung themselves around the world. Perhaps moreso than any other people, we have left and still tried to retain our identity. But often unlike those who stay behind, I have found that we become far more inclusive as a group. Whereas at home, we all too willingly look for what's different, once abroad we are united by what's the same. And on St Patrick's Day, we include the world in our party. Because everybody loves a party.

And so, as our public transport friend unfurled the newspaper advertisement with directions to his "quiet" St Patrick's Day watering hole from his back pocket, I thought of his girlfriend. And how upon finding her beau, replete in plastic green bowler hat and Guinness T-shirt, in a packed bar that is standing room only, she may cast her eyes heavenward. And hopefully, later that night, thank him for bringing her to one of the parties of the year.

* Oh, and for those of you wondering, St. George's Day is April 23.