St. Patrick's Day

This is one holiday that I've really got mixed feelings about. As a person with a significant amount of Irish heritage, I love my culture. I love the history, I love the literature, and I love the strong sense of national pride and identity that most Irish people espouse. However, I'm not really sure how I feel about how many people here in America celebrate the holiday. In this country, yes St. Patrick's Day is a celebration of Irish history and culture, but as we all know, many people use it as an excuse to get black out drunk. I'm not going to lie, I've done that on past St. Patrick's Days, but I haven't in a very long time. There are two reasons for that; first, that I don't drink anymore because it's just ultimately a bad habit for me to have, and second, because I want to instead really delve into and maintain the appreciation of the rich cultural history of my people and it's hard to do that while pissed drunk. I'm not saying that people shouldn't party on St. Patrick's Day, because like it or not, it's always going to happen regardless. But I am saying that if you truly want to show your appreciation for your Irish heritage, you're better off doing that by reading up on the history and culture, which is something not nearly enough people do. I was actually in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day a few years ago, and it was really interesting to see how differently the day is celebrated in the homeland as opposed to here in the states. For most older Irish folks, it is a day to be spent in prayer and reflection. There are much more people in the churches than in the pubs on this day. I think that the reason behind that is that it is a sacred day for the Irish and they treat it as such. If you were to be blacked out in the streets on St. Patrick's Day in Ireland, you would be showing a significant disrespect to the Irish people. It would be strongly frowned upon, and you certainly wouldn't be in the company of anyone in a similar state. However, again, in America, that's just what they day has become about. I'm not saying this is either a good or a bad thing, just that there is a stark cultural difference between how the two countries celebrate the feast day of St. Patrick. Irish culture has so much to offer than alcoholic beverages, and I really wish that wouldn't be the focus of the day. As a person of Irish decent, I really sympathize with Mexicans, because the holiday that is supposed to be all about Mexican culture is treated the same way as St. Patrick's Day is. In many ways, it's offensive, but I try not to take it personally. Americans like having fun, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with that, but I believe that there is something wrong with using an entire culture simply as an excuse to do that. Erin Go Bragh everyone. Happy St. Patrick's Day.