Well folks, Saint Patrick’s Day has come and gone, and I am always interested to see how this festival is an excuse for drunken revelry, whose only rival for alcoholic intake might be Mardi Gras.
So, how do we justify this going on in the middle of Lent (it doesn’t always fall during Lent, but it does usually)? Not being Irish, or of Irish ancestry, being cheap and old, I didn’t go out and drink a lot of green ale or Irish Whisky (not that I haven’t in my younger days). Why? Well, it is Lent, after all, isn’t it, folks? I haven’t given up drinking for Lent, but imbibing copious amounts of green beer, just doesn’t seem to fit into the whole Lenten ideal (in my humble opinion).
Financially, buying beer in a pub has always bothered me, as well, since its markup is 300% for a bottle. Now yes occasionally, I do buy a beer in a bar to be sociable, but this is where bars make money folks! You drink, you pay a lot, and you have the effects of alcohol, making you think that maybe a 20% tip for a $5 beer isn’t so bad, and the waitress is most likely working her way through University (maybe).
Oh and a final thought for my Celtic brethren, Saint Patrick wasn’t originally from Ireland, he was from Wales (my ancestry, by the by). Keep that one in mind too, the next Saint David’s Day (March 1st, if you are asking).
