St. Patty's Day parade (Scranton, Dublin: hotels, school, bars)

[The Commish]

Originally Posted by weluvpa

Commish wasn't Hillary at the last parade? Why would the city allow itself to viewed by a national audience for what it really is, when it could lock it down and force everyone to act they way they wanted them to.

Haha, true.

:

Originally Posted by go phillies

Hopefully they do "lockdown" the drunks again this year for the parade....it was finally something you can take your kids to and not worry about putting up with drunks stumbling around and causing trouble. But, I have a feeling that was all because of Hillary's appearance last year, and it might be back to the boozefest that it usually is...

Guess I didn't think about the kiddos.

(There's a parade?)

[weluvpa]

Thats why we work at the church on that day with the rest of our friends and their kids. We still all get together but the kids don't have to see that mess. I won't take my son down there.

[The Commish]

Originally Posted by go phillies

This day is about celebrating St. Patrick spreading Christianity to Ireland...not drinking until you puke. Having a few beers is great....drinking them until you act like a jackass is not.

Well, no one person gets to define what the day is "about" for everyone else. St. Patrick's Day may have its origins in something specifically Christian, but it has since evolved for many people as just an Irish-themed excuse for drinking. I don't feel my Irish heritage is particularly impugned by this. How other people celebrate the day has no interest to me, in fact. To each their own.

[okaydorothy]

You know I am irish and yes I do drink. But I refuse to be out on the street totally drunk out of my mind.

What gets me is the people in uniforms drinking and obviously drunk out of their minds. It really brings down the uniform.

d

[to570717]

There is a lot more to the Parade than just the spectators and drunks you know......There is the committee that meets and works all year round to raise funds and charity. there is the AOH and the FSOSP. The Parade literally provides enough money in one day to float a restaurant pr bar for at least 6 months.

[weluvpa]

But unfortunately people don't know the good that happens because they can only see everyone stumbling around the city drunk. Don't tell me that everyone gets drunk in the name of charity either. Seriously if it was about the parade and not a city wide drunk fest then I would agree, but I stopped going after what 15 years because I saw a steady decline of the environment around the parade that I didn't like.

[to570717]

yah I think it is pretty awful that people get all wasted. The U used to try and coincide spring break the same time as the Parade to lessen the amount of binge drinking but the Parade has taken on this mardi gras esque brand.

I am waiting for the Bishop to make a new proclamation that drinking is evil and anyone who drinks can receive holy communion....We are all in trouble then!

[Jungle George]

Patrick O'Malley hoisted his beer and said: "Here's to spending the rest of me life between the legs of me wife!" - and he took home the top prize for the best toast of the night.

In bed later that night, he told his wife: "Mary, I won the prize for the best toast of the night." She said, "Aye, Paddy, what was your toast?"

So he told her: "Here's to spending the rest of me life sitting in church beside me wife."

"Oh," she said, "that is very nice, dear."

The next day, Mary ran into one of Paddy's drinking partners in the street. Mischievously, the man said: "Did you hear about your husband winning a prize in the pub the other night for a toast about you, Mary?"

She replied: "Aye - and I was a bit surprised. Till now, he's only been down there twice. Once he fell asleep, and the other time I had to pull him by the ears to make him go in".

[W-B proud]

Originally Posted by The Commish

Well, no one person gets to define what the day is "about" for everyone else. St. Patrick's Day may have its origins in something specifically Christian, but it has since evolved for many people as just an Irish-themed excuse for drinking. I don't feel my Irish heritage is particularly impugned by this. How other people celebrate the day has no interest to me, in fact. To each their own.

You know what is funny. I heard in Ireland itself, that is a very uneventful, quite day where families celebrate by attending mass, and having a dinner together. America has made it into a drunken free for all, that supposedly has something to do with being irish. A real Irish citizen would probably be offended that Americans celebrate the Irish culture by getting drunk out of thier minds, because that furthers the stereotype that irish people are all drunks. Thats my opinion.

[go phillies]

Originally Posted by W-B proud

You know what is funny. I heard in Ireland itself, that is a very uneventful, quite day where families celebrate by attending mass, and having a dinner together. America has made it into a drunken free for all, that supposedly has something to do with being irish. A real Irish citizen would probably be offended that Americans celebrate the Irish culture by getting drunk out of thier minds, because that furthers the stereotype that irish people are all drunks. Thats my opinion.

That's exactly how I feel. The way people see St. Patrick's Day as just an excuse to get falling down drunk is an insult to my heritage. Why is it OK to perpetuate the stereotype of the "drunken Irish?" Its not acceptable to stereotype other races and ethnic groups, but somehow its still PC to label the Irish as drunks....

The funny thing is that most of the people downtown acting like fools on parade day probably aren't even Irish. And no real Irishman would drink crappy pee-beer like Coors Light with green food coloring in it. Crap beer like that is for people who drink for no other reason than to get drunk.