Green Without Envy

The Chicago river is green and no one is surprised. Green clad strangers are pinching you and you aren't surprised. Children are talking with fake Irish accents and still no one is surprised.

That is simply because St. Patrick's Day is a singularly unique holiday.

What began as a strictly religious holiday now accommodates everyone into its drunken bliss. The day is still considered a holy day to Catholics who are required to attend mass each March 17th. Everyone else finds other ways to spend their time.

St. Patrick's Day is the Irish national holiday, equivalent to our Fourth of July. Despite that, a great number of other countries participate in Irish-focused festivities, not the least of which is the United States. The celebrating carries on primarily in English-speaking countries because it has been found that we cannot explain the reason for celebration in any other language than our own, regardless of the accent.

Although it has been a national holiday its native country did not truly embrace the holiday as anything but a religious observance until the mid-1990's when the government saw the opportunity to spread Irish culture internationally.

Unlike some other holidays there are no concrete traditions, least of all any mandatory gift giving. In this country, we usually pinch those who do not wear green, but each country adds their own spin to this free-for-all of a celebration. Most places feature a monochromatic parade.

Like Thanksgiving and Marti Gras, it is a time marked for overindulgence. And since Ireland is involved that probably, and does, involve alcohol. Like Halloween, it is a holiday without any real purpose other than to be a holiday, to celebrate the passage of time, to liven things up a bit in the middle of the week.

So don your bowler, eat some Lucky Charms, and have a happy Saint Patrick's Day.