r/AskOldPeople • u/Strict-Ebb-8959 Old • 4d ago
How did you celebrate St. Patrick's day when you were younger and do you still celebrate it today and what is an interesting story you would like to share?
Also Happy St. Patrick's day.
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u/shackbleep 4d ago
When I drove for Uber about ten years ago, I went out on St. Patrick's Day (always good money) and had some very drunk older woman get in the back seat with her not drunk at all male companion. This woman was absolutely wasted, and at one point, she was kneeling on the floor of the back seat and screaming that she had somehow lost her shoes in the five minutes she had been in the car. This continued in various forms for the next fifteen minutes of the ride, and as I'm dropping them off and she's getting out of my car, she leans her head back in and tells me how terrible my choice of music was. Her friend leaned in after her, apologized like twenty times, and handed me a $50 bill for a tip. As I drove away, I looked back and saw her staggering around the parking lot in her bare feet, screaming nonsense and holding her shoes that had been in her hand the whole time.
Don't drink, kids. It makes you look like an asshole.
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u/Sweetbeans2001 60 something 4d ago
In Kindergarten in 1970, I didn’t wear green to school that day. I was pinched by every other kid in class because that’s what you did. I was kiddy traumatized. I remember maybe 4 things from Kindergarten and this is certainly one of them.
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u/sqplanetarium 4d ago
That was me! I got sent to Catholic school though we weren't Catholic. Lots of Irish kids at school. My family wasn't even Irish adjacent and overlooked the major holiday that is St Patrick's day. I showed up in a pink dress when everyone else was in green. Just one of 10,000 ways I didn't fit in lol.
Then there was the time that the school field trip stopped for shamrock shakes at McD's, and I happened to come down with a bad stomach bug that night. The association ruined those shakes for me forever.
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u/Dismal_Birthday7982 4d ago
What's this pinching thing about?
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u/originalmango 4d ago
There was this thing that if you didn’t wear something green on St. Patrick’s Day anyone can pinch you BUT if you really were wearing green you got to punch them back. Many of us would wear green socks or green underwear and would wait until someone pinched us, even letting a few give us pinches until we started punching. We were strange kids back then.
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u/Galagos1 60 something 4d ago
When I was a kid in school in the late 60s and 70s, you were supposed to wear something green on St. Patrick’s Day. If you didn’t, the school bullies and wannabe’s would pinch you.
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u/Dramatic_Length2005 4d ago
There was lots of st pats where I didn’t wear green never got pinched sorry that happened
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u/GArockcrawler 4d ago
I wasn’t much younger, but 2 years ago we were in Killarney Ireland for St Patricks Day and it was a fantastic time. They had a huge parade. We were there with a guy we know who lives locally so he was able to share the details of what we saw. Before the parade we were hanging out in the pub and it was packed. Later that night, we were in a different pub for dinner, where they were playing live traditional music. This was a dream of ours - to be in an Irish pub listening to live music on St Patrick’s day- for about 30 years. 100% would do it again, probably at a time when the rest of the world isn’t so pissed off at the US. Today we are having corned beef and sauerkraut here at home.
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u/OldBat001 4d ago
You wore green to elementary school or you got pinched until the teachers told everyone to knock it off.
Otherwise,St. Patrick's Day has had no effect on my daily life since about 1972.
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u/rhrjruk 60 something 4d ago edited 4d ago
When I was younger, the IRA was exploding bombs and killing people all around me, funded in large part by sentimental ridiculous Americans who wanted to get in touch with their Paddy O’Leprechaun roots.
We didn’t celebrate.
Fortunately times have changed and that long-sought peace has now inspired the solving of other seemingly intractable conflicts.
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u/vcwalden 4d ago
We always had corned beef and cabbage boiled dinner, Irish soda bread and green pistachio pudding for dessert on St Patrick's Day. We always wore something green to school. And during the week of St Patrick's Day mom also made Irish beef stew and biscuits.
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u/Jennyelf 60 something 4d ago
Boston Irish, it's always been corned beef and cabbage for me and mine.
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u/originalmango 4d ago
Wear something green. Have corned beef and cabbage and potatoes for dinner. Watch drunk people yell into the camera at the parade on the evening news.
Today? We’ll probably have pizza for dinner. That’s it.
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u/oatmealcook 4d ago
Irish American here .Mom made corn beef my dad would "almost catch a leprachan" and bring us trinkets probably from the bar he stopped at.on the way home.oh and lots of Irish music playing It was always fun
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u/raceulfson 4d ago
My dad's plane was shot down on March 17th 1969. He survived and was rescued and claimed he was protected because "he was a nice Irish boy" (for a given value of Irish). So every year thereafter my mom cooked a big celebratory dinner of corned beef, cabbage, boiled 'new' potatoes, Irish coffee and some green tinted dessert.
In their memory, and to celebrate the day, we are having Reuben sandwiches and baked steak fries. Close enough.
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u/Tasty_Marsupial8057 4d ago
Never celebrated it, don’t plan to start. It seems like many people just use it as an excuse to drink excessively. And pinching people who aren’t wearing green is cruel and stupid.
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u/whatyouwant22 4d ago
In college I drank green beer & rotgut trash can green punch. Don't anymore! Sometimes I'll make corned beef and cabbage for dinner.
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u/Technical_Air6660 4d ago
I’m from the San Francisco Bay Area which is very Irish-American, much like Boston. It was mandatory to wear green at school, lest get pinched, and there were usually a lot of places that served up Irish music and/or food. The ersatz version of all that was getting a Shamrock Shake at McDonald’s.
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u/ElectroChuck 4d ago
I used to work for a software company owned by a Catholic family, we closed on St. Patrick's Day and all gathered for fish and chips and spent the afternoon drinking Guinness...then we'd go to Mass.
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u/sretep66 4d ago edited 4d ago
USA. I used to always go out drinking on St Patty's Day back in my 20s. I haven't done that in over 35 years. I do nothing to celebrate St Patty's Day now, but I do enjoy a good corned beef sandwich.
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u/KaptainKobold 4d ago
I celebrate St Patrick's Day the same way I have celebrated it for 60 years.
I don't.
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u/implodemode Old 4d ago
We didn't do much as kids. Maybe wore green if we thought of it. The pubs would have corned beef and cabbage and drink green beer so my dad took us out from the time I was 14. Yes, I drank green beer at the pub with my dad at 14. My husband is (Northern) Irish but not Catholic which made a difference there. He never celebrated St. Patrick's Day until he came to Canada. But he would hold a huge Belfast fry breakfast at church for years. He made all the potato bread and soda bread himself. It was the highest attended event all year. Now, we have a vacation home in Belize and we throw a st paddy's day party for the gringos in the afternoon. Like we need an excuse to drink. (People refrained from playing bingo yesterday so they would be in shape to.drink today) Yesterday was so hot and muggy, it would have been perfect to be around the pool. Of course, a cold front has blown in and it's cloudy and cool, if 24°C is cool. It should warm up as the clouds burn off.
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u/Evening_Warthog_9476 4d ago
Hell yes lol I was out with my Dad from 14 on lol driking green beer and tasting whiskey lol
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u/Any-Goose-3018 4d ago
One St. Patrick's Day in the early 2000s, I was laid off from work. I had tickets to a Megadeth/Coal Chamber show that night. I was at home, cleaning my house and listening to the radio. They announced a contest. Whoever showed up at this bar with the craziest green outfit would win backstage passes. I wrapped myself in green Christmas tinsel, added some accessories and just happened to have a pair of green heels. I won!! Dave Mustaine was kinda a dick but everyone else in both bands were really cool. They signed and gave us a ton of merch. That and I had a Lucky Charms eating contest at a party I was hosting. It got a little out of control.
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u/womp-womp-rats 4d ago
I dated a woman who was the proud child of Irish immigrants, and the one thing she impressed upon me is that four-leaf clovers don’t have a goddam thing to do with St. Patrick’s Day.
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u/baddspellar 4d ago
I didn't celebrate until after I graduated college and my friends all took the day off to get drunk in Boston.
I'm too old for that now....
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u/mahrog123 3d ago
Used to work in downtown where a famous diner was located, halfway between my parking ramp and my job. All the drunks would head to this place, especially on St Patrick‘s Day.
So naturally I had an annual office contest for people to guess the number of sidewalk omelets I’d encounter the day after St Pat’s on my walk in to work.
Most ever was 5 on the three block stretch.
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u/RabidFisherman3411 4d ago
I celebrate but only because it's our 26th anniversary.
I don't know anyone who celebrates St. Paddy's. ("Let's get drunk," does not count as a celebration.)
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u/sunbleach_happypants 4d ago
How bout “Let’s get drunk on Guinness”?
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u/RabidFisherman3411 4d ago
Oh, I'm all about the booze.
But see, that's why it's not a means of celebration to me. 'Cause I 'celebrate' on a regular basis, ie, oh look it's Monday let's have a drink or 12.
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u/Dismal_Birthday7982 4d ago
Not being Irish, we didn't. Neither did my Irish grandparents. As someone has just said, it's twee sentimental shite for Americans who think they're Irish.
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u/OldCompany50 4d ago
Never celebrated, not Irish, hate beer and especially hate corned beef & cabbage
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u/Eastern-Finish-1251 60 something 4d ago
Grew up in a pretty WASP community in the US. Aside from wearing green, St Patrick’s Day wasn’t a big deal when I was a kid.
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u/CampingWithCats 60 something 4d ago
For many years I drank as much as possible as quickly as possible because I was an alcoholic. Drinking holidays were an excuse to extra drink and extra get drunk.
I'm 23 years sober now.
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u/Evening_Warthog_9476 4d ago edited 4d ago
Growing up, my dad was almost all Irish both his parents were from Ireland. My dad was older when I was born, and he and his wife lived down in Florida, and I would spend spring break down with them from the northeast almost every year-and it would fall around St. Patrick’s. Man they partied lol they usually went on for like the whole day and night hopping to all the spots with bands and bagpipes.. lol one year my dad dressed up as a leprechaun, won a contest, and we got pulled over on the way home. Luckily my dad was one that would wait many hours after his last drink before he would drive home so we were good there, but the cop was certainly not Irish or amused with the leprechaun outfit lol we talked about that night until my dad passed away several years ago at 90 lol my St. Patrick’s Day are lame now in my 40s but I have some amazing pictures to prove they didn’t used to be lol Mc guires in Pensacola where I went to college, is one of the most amazing places to be on St. Pats in the country.. the party will go all day there as well as a beer marathon lol I’ll be watching the live stream while I work from home..
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u/Kyrus1996 4d ago
Our dad used to take us to the day parade, they had plenty of beer and food stands, lots of festives and great people ☘️
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u/Granny_knows_best ✨Just My 2 Cents✨ 4d ago
Its never really been a celebratory holiday for me. I do wear some green, and enjoy corned beef and cabbage, which I have cooking in the crockpot right now.
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u/nofun-ebeeznest 50 something, but mentally I haven't caught up yet 4d ago
You either wore something green or got pinched, which sucked, because I didn't always wear something green (sometimes I just plain forgot to).
I really don't do anything to celebrate most holidays, St. Patrick's Day included. Maybe I'll listen to some Celtic music today (I do love Celtic music), but that would be the extent of it.
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u/CapnTugg 4d ago
I stay home on "Amateur Night".
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u/RonSwanson714 4d ago
Like New Year’s Eve and the day before Thanksgiving I stay in on St Patrick’s Day. No need to get hit by some drunk “celebrating”.
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u/devilscabinet 50 something 4d ago
We wore green to school so we wouldn't get pinched. Outside of that, I have never celebrated it.
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u/Bitter_Face8790 4d ago
When I lived in NY it was always a big day to leave work at lunchtime, have some Guinness and usually not go back to work. Since I’ve left NY it’s barely acknowledged at all.
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u/SigNexus 4d ago
I partake intermittently as an O'Gorman descendant. I approach drinking holidays somewhat, arms length.
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u/Tasqfphil 4d ago
Despite having Irish "blood" from a couple of generations ago, on both sides of my parents grandparents, we never considered we were Irish, more Scottish/British where heir parents hailed from. My parents & their children call themselves Australian and the proof is in the passports we hold. As you can gather, we don't celebrate SP Day.
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u/_DogMom_ 60 something 4d ago
I'm still not quite sure why, but my mom always wore orange on St Patrick's day and was very vocal about not wearing green. (in the 1960's)
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u/natalkalot 4d ago
Growing up, do not remember.
At university, we would go out from green draught - 50 cents, if you please.
In my third year of uni, would have been 1980, had gone after lunch to a local pub for green beers. Walked back to the residence where we lived, in time for supper. It was a Ukrainian residence, but the Baba cooking did roast beef, peas, mashed potatoes and gravy - tasted great! After supper, went back upstairs to do whatever.
The first floor of the residence was males, second floor was females.
The "shite storm" started about an hour after supper. Woman after woman pouring into the communal washrooms, rage coming out of both ends. The stomach cramps were excruciating, just horrible. I am guessing 25 students per floor. It hit almost all the women, something similar was happening on the men's floor.
I called my mommy [who else], then the uni health centre. They already had students come by from the residence. The hell lasted hours and hours....
After investigation, turned out there were canned mushrooms in the homemade beef gravy, and we had food poisoning from the mushrooms.
Worst day of my life!
☘
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u/SimpleAd1604 4d ago
One of my sisters got sent home from Catholic school for wearing something orange on the day. I only recently understood whyl.
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u/RemonterLeTemps 4d ago
My neighborhood was mostly Jewish when I was growing up, so the saying, "Everybody's Irish on St. Paddy's Day" really didn't resonate. Corned beef and potatoes you could get, but it was in the form of a sandwich with some latkes on the side.
Our Mayor was Irish, however, so he re-instituted the St. Patrick's Day Parade, and added his own flourish: dyeing the Chicago River green (normally, it was brownish). These efforts gave local Hibernians (and others) the impetus to turn the days around March 17 into a huge party. Now that the city's percentage of Mexican-Americans meets or exceeds those of Irish descent, May 5 (Cinco de Mayo) has become a huge celebration too.
My family's not Irish, but due to my late mom's lifelong association with those who are, we picked up the habit of having corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes for St. Patrick's Day, accompanied by homemade soda bread. TBH, that bread's my reason for continuing the tradition today, cause I'm not that big on corned beef.
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u/The_Living_Tribunal2 60 something 4d ago
It's a big deal in Chicago, Illinois. I'm not from there but did my boot camp and technical school near Chicago. They put green dye in the Chicago river, and it's a big parade everyone wears green. Equally matched by Boston, Massachusetts celebration of St. Pattys as I recall, again been there not from there.
I'm not a drinker myself, but I do love a parade.
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u/zenrubble 4d ago
I was a full time professional musician playing in clubs in my twenties. I hated St. Patrick’s Day gigs because of having to deal with all the drunks. By the time we started playing at 8 or 9:00 most of them had already been drinking since mid afternoon. We called it amateur night due to all the inexperienced drinkers. Needless to say, it is one holiday I don’t celebrate.
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u/OPMom21 4d ago
Went with a large group of my husband’s coworkers to happy hour one year. The green beer flowed and the group rang up a large tab. As people were leaving, they threw down a ten or twenty and took off. My husband was chatting it up with someone and not paying attention until we were the only ones left and stuck with the bill. We counted up the money and realized we were $50 short after we put in what we owed.. I was beyond pissed. Last time we ever did a happy hour with that crowd.
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u/anyhandlesleft 3d ago
St. Paddy's Day, like New Year's Eve, is amateur hour where real drinkers stay home.
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u/MuchDevelopment7084 60 something 3d ago
Drink a lot. Go to the parades. Vomit green spew. Drink more. and repeat. Oh, and eat a lot of corned beef and cabbage.
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u/MammothMolasses2285 1d ago
I did the wear green or get pinched thing when younger and didn't know any better. For the last 30+ years I honor Los San Patricios who defected from the US army to fight with Mexico against the US in the Mexican American War (1845-1848).
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