Back when I was a school kid, St Patrick’s Day was Very Important.
We knew it was important, because it was the focus of many weeks (two or three) of art projects. Shamrocks a-plenty, green crepe paper decor of various types, and the ever-popular leprechauns/rainbows/pots-o-gold.
(Not having been a teacher yet, I didn’t realize that was because it was very convenient to have an artistic theme each month, and St Patrick’s Day fell in between February’s Valentines Day and April’s Flowers.)
It was also important because, well, you had to watch the calendar, lest you be caught on Der Tag without any green visible in your attire. To do so was to make you a legitimate target for a pinch. Teachers tried to forestall this by havnig us all wear green construction paper shamrocks pinned to our shirts, but that only protected you after class was started — and there were plenty of rules lawyers who argued that only clothing counted, too.
Today, St Patrick’s Day seems to have a lot less impact. Yeah, you get parades in various cities with large Irish populations (forever memorialized in The Fugitive). The green bunting and so forth shows up everywhere. But I forgot to wear green today. And there’s not much going on in our household that makes me think of St Patrick.
Well, there’s 50 lbs. of corned beef, and a dozen or so heads of cabbage, etc., that Margie bought for the Alpha dinner tonight. But aside from that …
Do they still pinch kids in school? Is that allowed, or is it assault?
And here’s some information on St Patrick, who was a Scot. And if Patrick doesn’t float your boat, today is also the feast day of St Gertrude of Nivelles, St Jan Sarkander, St Joseph of Arimathea, St Paul of Cyprus, and Bl Peter Lieou.