Happy St. Patrick's Day

Sunday is St. Patrick's Day, a holiday with an interesting history in terms of Anglo-American relations. The English don't celebrate it, or at least didn't when I was living in the UK; they didn't seem to be aware of it. It's an Irish holiday, and therefore has functioned at times as a statement of defiance against England's historical domination and colonizing of Ireland. But because immense numbers of Irish emigrated to the US, and particularly to America's northern cities, St. Patrick's Day became a big deal, almost an unofficial national holiday, in America. There are big parades marking it in Boston, New York, and Chicago. The Chicago River is dyed green for the occasion, as in the photo here, and tradition calls for wearing green items of clothing and drinking green-colored beer, and lots of it. (If green beer isn't readily available, tradition permits drinking beer of any color at all. Irish whiskey is also encouraged, as is "Irish coffee." The Irish, as you probably know, are stereotyped as big drinkers.)

Like every other American holiday, St. Pat's is also the occasion for big sales and (alleged) discounts in most of the stores, including those whose business has nothing to do with Ireland. Here, though, is an example from one business that does.

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!