So today marks the pinnacle of Irish culture and celebration with St. Patrick’s Day. Very little of what we do today has any relevancy to the original holiday – similar to many of our pseudo-Christian, Americanized celebrations including Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc. According to the story, St. Patrick was captured by Irish raiders and held captive. While a prisoner, God appeared to St. Patrick in a dream – as God allegedly often does – and related that St. Patrick needed to flee his captors, escape to the coast, and a ship would pick him up and take him home. After his escape, St. Patrick returned home and joined the church, where studied to become a priest. Shortly thereafter, he returned to Ireland to educate the Irish heathens about the dangers of their polytheistic ways. He often used a shamrock as a teaching tool to demonstrate the Holy Trinity and after his death became a symbol for Irish Christianity.

According to the source of infinite knowledge, Wikipedia, St. Patrick’s Day is usually characterized by church services, the wearing of green – typically in the form of a shamrock –, and a removal of Lenten (my new favorite adjective btw) restrictions regarding food and drink. The day is supposed to serve as a celebration of Irish culture and traditions. However, my experiences have shown me that people generally don’t know (1) Who St. Patrick is (2) Why he is often hailed as the patron saint of Ireland (3) Where Ireland is on the map.   What usually happens is a sea of drunk people, sporting green, ambling around downtown in their drunken disposition shouting obnoxious things like “The Luck of the Irish!!” or worse showcasing their “best” Irish accent. Once again, we in America have appropriated another culture’s holiday, drastically altered its main reason for existing, and turned it into an excuse to drink heavily, wear gaudy (at times culturally inappropriate) attire and buy tacky, cheap decorations from the Dollar Store.

The other side to St. Patrick's Day is the "green squad". The green squad are those individuals that keep track of every single person in their immediate environment to ensure that everyone is wearing green on St. Patrick's Day. Should some poor soul fail to remember to wear green, the green squad will make you feel shameful and inadequeate as person. Worse yet is when they critique the level of "greenness" you are currently operating at; "Oh you just wore green earrings, wow, you must not really like Irish people you obviously don't support their culture".

Being a ginger on St. Patrick’s Day is an odd yet sometimes hilarious experience. As my best friend Jake put it “(St. Patrick’s Day) is the one day we are not only seen as fully functioning members of society, but are actually welcomed into the mixed company of non-gingers as a sign of luck”. Nothing could be closer to the truth. On any other day, the Ginger population is feared and made fun of for our pasty skin, obtrusive freckles, and general lack of soul. However today we are hugged, kissed, rubbed, as non-Irish folk (and therefore non-magical) try to soak up a little bit of that good ole Irish luck. This is why I will be heading to the gay bars tonight; to spread my little leprechaun magic around. ;)   

Dear Reno,

The Holiday Season is right around the corner. Everyone is in a frenzy between black Friday, UNR's football victory,  ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas, and the smashing success of the Buttcracker. However the hopes and dreams of the denizens of Reno came crashing down when the holiday decorations started coming up. You decided that it would be appropriate to put a lop-sided tree in the middle of downtown right next to a wooden menorah that appears as if it was made from a 2nd grader's art class. Christians and Jews are crossing the spiritual divide over their fervent hatred of these holiday decorations. Now instead of Hanukah glee and Christmas cheer, we have disgruntled people clamoring for the head of the mayor and the resignation of every member of the holiday decoration committee. So thank you Reno. We thought that our horrid graduation rates, abysmal teen pregnancy percentages, and crazy tea-bagging politicians were humiliating enough but the flaccid Christmas tree and unfortunate menorah really do take the cake.

Happy Holidays

Love

Ginger