Fifty Plus (50+) - I could learn to hate St. Patrick's Day in the US - long

I teach in a graduate program in the heart of Philadelphia. Three of my classes are on Saturdays. Yesterday, between classes I took the elevator to the lobby so I could get outside for a few minutes and enjoy the spring weather. As the elevator door opens I see the security guard right outside the front door surrounded by a group of drunk students from two other universities right up the street. They are all wearing green t-shirts from an Irish bar about four blocks down the street from the first of these two universities. I head out the door to see what's going on. Turns out the security guard caught two of these students in the parking lot (which is private) urinating on cars. Doing his job, he saw them on the security cameras and went out to chase them away. Several friends of these two were waiting for them, and get involved in a situation that is about to get ugly. They start pushing the guard and telling him to get the "f" out of their faces. I notice that one of the students has a Campagnolo tattoo on his forearm. I turn to him as ask if he thinks it would cool if his friends took a leak on his bike. He stops dead in his tracks and says, Hell, no, I'd kick their a$$es. I say, well some people feel the same way about their cars. What your friends did was thoughtless and stupid. He nods his heads and helps me break up the crowd and they head on back to their respective campus. It seems more and more, that this "holiday" is simply an excuse to be stuipd for a day. The security guard wants to know how I knew about the tattoo. I just smiled and said, every cyclist would recognize that tattoo. He says, maybe I should start riding a bike to work. I'm thinking, good idea, except on St. Patrick's day.

Good job on your part. On St. Pat's I always remember Jimmy Breslin saying it was the one day of the year he didn't go out drinking because it was the day all the amateurs came out.

Halloween is just as bad, nothing like a drunk in a mask.

People need to read the bio of St. Patrick. I've never met an Irishman who knew it. It an amazing story. Nothing related to alkyhol.

It's National Get Drunk and Stupid Day here too.

I live a short distance from where the parade starts. The parking lot next door began filling up with people nearly two hours before the start. Some arrived drunk, others busted out and tailgated before the parade.

I waited until the parade began before going out to do my weekly errands. I made it back before the parade finished. The afternoon was comparable, traffic-wise, to Friday rush-hour before a holiday weekend. Only folks were staggering towards their cars before getting in a driving away.

I cancelled my afternoon pleasure ride, despite the sunshine and 70°F temps, more typical of May around here than March.

Ah, well. Club ride this afternoon. Thirty-one miles, small hills, and a 30 mile round-trip to and from the start.

An excellent rant / point. It fell on a Saturday this year, so naturally, many in the Boston area "Called in sick" on Friday.

Mixed feelings here. While peeing on cars, harassing cops and driving drunk are too far out of line, I have always believed in the importance of allowing people a chance to step outside the boundaries of society from time to time.

Since I play Scottish highland bagpipes, St.P day has always been a nice income supplement. PIA often though. Still got a ride in the morning in.

Nice catch on the Campy tattoo!

We went to an annual St. Patty's Day party where the hostess serves ham & cabbage and "Irish potatoes." While I did have a Stella, followed by a Patron and coffee, the partying was moderate and it was a nice way to get together and visit with friends. St. Patrick's Day doesn't have to be all about getting sloshed, one just needs to know where to celebrate and who to avoid. :)

Since I play Scottish highland bagpipes, St.P day has always been a nice income supplement. PIA often though. Still got a ride in the morning in.

Nice catch on the Campy tattoo!
:thumb::thumb:

............ one just needs to know where to celebrate and who to avoid. :)

So true. After our 27 mi. ride, Vicki and I met my son and daughter-in-law at one of our local hangouts called Corleone's. The weather was so nice we sat out on the deck having beers and barbecue and talking about all kinds of stuff. It was a great end to a nice ride. And with 1,000 or so calories burned those four beers "didn't count."

As I get older I've started thinking that high school and college students should have their freedom of speech and drink suspended for this type of stupidity. I've seen so much of this type of stupidity. People don't appreciate the value of such freedom. Then I see incredible maturity from the same crowd and know that everyone just needs some time.

Good call on the Campy tatoo, bike people are usually very reasonable.

It's National Get Drunk and Stupid Day here too.

I live a short distance from where the parade starts. The parking lot next door began filling up with people nearly two hours before the start. Some arrived drunk, others busted out and tailgated before the parade.

I waited until the parade began before going out to do my weekly errands. I made it back before the parade finished. The afternoon was comparable, traffic-wise, to Friday rush-hour before a holiday weekend. Only folks were staggering towards their cars before getting in a driving away.

I cancelled my afternoon pleasure ride, despite the sunshine and 70°F temps, more typical of May around here than March.

Ah, well. Club ride this afternoon. Thirty-one miles, small hills, and a 30 mile round-trip to and from the start.

You want to go out and get drunk and act stupid, go out, get drunk and act stupid, I don't care, but if you get behind the wheel of a car drunk then whether you act stupid or not, I have a big problem with it. I have long thought and still do think that driving drunk should mean you kiss your license goodbye. Driving drunk and getting into a collision with people injured, you should be charged with attempted murder, and killing someone should be premeditated murder. Nobody forces anyone to get drunk and nobody forces a drunk person to drive.

NOS88,
A big :thumb: attaboy for the catch on the Campy tat and for stepping in and helping to diffuse the situation. Blessed are the peacemakers!

NOS88,
A big :thumb: attaboy for the catch on the Campy tat and for stepping in and helping to diffuse the situation. Blessed are the peacemakers!

+1. Too many people cause similar problems over here just to have their "Fun" and it has got to the stage where you don't interrupt them as it can be dangerous for you. I am of the opinion that if someone causes me a problem I will tell them--If they cause others problems- I will tell them. Pointless going to the Police over here as People have rights- and I don't if I try to stop them.

You want to go out and get drunk and act stupid, go out, get drunk and act stupid, I don't care, but if you get behind the wheel of a car drunk then whether you act stupid or not, I have a big problem with it. I have long thought and still do think that driving drunk should mean you kiss your license goodbye. Driving drunk and getting into a collision with people injured, you should be charged with attempted murder, and killing someone should be premeditated murder. Nobody forces anyone to get drunk and nobody forces a drunk person to drive.

+1. ZERO tolerance.

There seem to be many people these days who, even sober, show little restraint in their behavior. A typical example that may be familiar is road rage that I've seen and which itself can be deadly. Increasingly common is the individual who goes off the deep end in a shooting spree and the most recent example, though there are many others, is the soldier in Afghanistan who murdered several dozen local citizens. One would hope that that our leadership would be an example of thoughtful and measured discourse and response that people at large could look to as the standard of behavior. I confess to being a certified, card carrying old guy but with each passing year the lessons that have already been learned by society are glaringly forgotten and the price is paid by all. I'm embarrassed by the crop of candidates that parade themselves before the nation and the world and who would be world leaders but can't keep a civil tongue in their head.

On a happy note, my bike club had it's Spring Opener today. Rides are actually scheduled throughout winter months, but due to a poor snow year in which I did little skiing, I've been on the bike for quite a few miles already. So far rides have not been long; more at the physical fitness maintenance level than hammering. But today, perhaps due to psychological reasons as well as the Vernal Equinox, is the day that the 2012 season begins. This is a good sized club so that there were probably 150 club members and friends at the start. This means that for a while anyway, I found myself in the middle of a peloton drafting and soft peddling at 18, and 20, and for a few minutes, 23 mph. The primitive part portion of my brain takes over and concludes that this is how the entire ride will go. It's the same every time. I get sucked into riding faster than I'm able to ride. I rode 32 miles which is actually less than my longest ride on my own this year. I feel as if I've been trod on by an entire Roman legion, including attached cavalry, but what a wonderful, warm, blue bird day shared with like-minded people.

Mixed feelings here. While peeing on cars, harassing cops and driving drunk are too far out of line, I have always believed in the importance of allowing people a chance to step outside the boundaries of society from time to time.

BD, I get what you're saying. But, what I didn't report fully was that it was six against one until I showed up, and a 200+ lb kid was pushing around 130 lb 70+ year old security guard. That, IMHO is stepping too far out of bounds. Having read your posts for some six years now, I can't believe you wouldn't agree.

Ugh. When I lived in NYC, and it was my day off, I stayed home. Don't like to be around drunks... Glad I didn't have to go anywhere on St. Patty's day yesterday, as I live in a college town.

As I get older I've started thinking that high school and college students should have their freedom of speech and drink suspended for this type of stupidity.
I think the contrary, we shouldn't have such a strict prohibition against drinking and a lot of our problems would go away. If kids didn't see it as something special we wouldn't have such ridiculous problems when they got to be 21. Around here, drinking is a real problem. Now the students started having 2 celebrations of St. Paddy's day. It started a couple of years ago when St. Patrick's day was during spring break and they continued it because they are a batch of alcoholics.

Halloween is just as bad, nothing like a drunk in a mask.

Serves them right when they vomit with the mask on.

BD, I get what you're saying. But, what I didn't report fully was that it was six against one until I showed up, and a 200+ lb kid was pushing around 130 lb 70+ year old security guard. That, IMHO is stepping too far out of bounds. Having read your posts for some six years now, I can't believe you wouldn't agree.

Absolutely agree that this situation was too far over the line. I was not defending what they were doing.

The point that is missed in discussions like this is that St Patrick's Day and others of its ilk are heavily promoted to make huge, even obscene, amounts of money for corporations that produce and sell alcohol. It is now at a point where people cannot see themselves doing anything unless there is alcohol in their hand. Sporting events, social celebrations, concerts... you name it, there's likely a beer or alcohol company involved as a sponsor or supplier.

We went to a dinner-concert for three tenors and a brilliant soprano on Saturday night. I think we were the only ones out of 200 who didn't drink any alcohol during the evening. A lot of the alcohol was supplied by a local winery.

I think the contrary, we shouldn't have such a strict prohibition against drinking and a lot of our problems would go away. If kids didn't see it as something special we wouldn't have such ridiculous problems when they got to be 21. Around here, drinking is a real problem. Now the students started having 2 celebrations of St. Paddy's day. It started a couple of years ago when St. Patrick's day was during spring break and they continued it because they are a batch of alcoholics.

Coming from across the water it always amazes me that you guys in the US will let someone have a gun at 18, put them in charge of two tons of motor vehicle at 17, send them out to die for their country at 18, but still not let them have a single beer until they are 21.

I agree entirely that for as long as it's some kind of "forbidden fruit" kids are going to want it. I remember as a teenager being allowed measured amounts of alcohol if my parents were drinking - I might have half an inch of beer in the bottom of a glass to taste it, increasing as I got older - so I knew what it was and what it tasted like, and that it needed to be respected to some degree.

Coming from across the water…

Yes, but on the other side, as bad as things are, we haven't yet needed the ASBO.

Mixed feelings here. While peeing on cars, harassing cops and driving drunk are too far out of line, I have always believed in the importance of allowing people a chance to step outside the boundaries of society from time to time.

Well, first there's the Safety Dance:
Say we can act if we want to
If we don't, nobody will
You can get real rude and totally removed
And I can act like an imbecile.

Another decorum-free zone is virtually any SEC football or basketball game. No rules apply, pretty much.

Or you can throw a Woodstock and hope it doesn't devolve into its evil twin sister, Altamont.

But the Gand-daddy of them all: Burning Man. Thank God they don't get to use cars for that one.

Blah blah blah. It seems more and more, that this "holiday" is simply an excuse to be stuipd for a day. Blah blah.

Pretty much.

What does this have to do with the U.S.?

I guess I'd rather see some drunks misbehaving a little with childish things than, say killing people at a soccer match? What is up with the want to bash the U.S.? Sorry, tired of it.

Like kids don't publicly urinate in Europe? I mean. Come on.

Just leave us Irish out of this. We had nothing to do with it.

What does this have to do with the U.S.?

I guess I'd rather see some drunks misbehaving a little with childish things than, say killing people at a soccer match? What is up with the want to bash the U.S.? Sorry, tired of it.

Like kids don't publicly urinate in Europe? I mean. Come on.

Historically here in the US, St Patrick's day was marked by Irish parades to fight for equal rights. In Ireland it's real birthplace, it started as a religious Catholic holiday. Hence, here in the US, the religious connection was lost rather quickly. It has also evolved into a "holiday" where everyone wants to be Irish seemingly as an excuse to drink. And in Philadelphia it's now a three week "celebration with parades two weeks before, bars running "green beer specials" for a full month, etc. I've been in Ireland on St. Patrick's day, and while there were those who took the occasion to indulge, perhaps a bit more than usual, I saw nothing anywhere near as out of hand as I've I've seen in the four major US cities that I've been in during this holiday. My frustration was just very high, due in large part to the particular situation with which I was confronted. Perhaps I mistakenly believe that the way it is celebrated in Ireland is more proper, given that holiday's original intent. I have seen misbehavior every where I've traveled. I would not consider attending a World Cup soccer match anywhere in Europe, because I find some of the behavior deplorable. I would consider attending a soccer match here in the US. This does not mean I'm bashing Europe; nor was I bashing the US.

Yes, but on the other side, as bad as things are, we haven't yet needed the ASBO.

We didn't need the ASBO either, it was just a way for a bunch of useless politicians to Be Seen To Be Doing Something.

My fellow barflies call them amateur nights.. St. Pats, halloween and new year's eve.

but i did see some familiar faces having a good time,
one woman works the counter at the SSA office, giving the bad news to old but ineligible people,
did have a smile on her face I'm not used to seeing in office visits.

Well, drunks aside, I REALLY enjoyed my St. Patrick's Day! In Dec. I was apt. bound, having to use a "cane" to get from my recliner to the bathroom and back, I found out we had a new St. Patrick's Day 50K ride and decided I was "going" to RIDE this event. It hurt like hell in Jan., every turn of the pedal caused pain but I kept at it and managed to rehab the knee/2nd. toe enough to finish the ride!!
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-WQhr_q3UFmE/T2ilWVPQxNI/AAAAAAAAEEI/nfIdvvqcFC0/s560/2012-03-17%2520007-3.JPG
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-bK518K40HKY/T2ilVI61hEI/AAAAAAAAEEI/eWAuFDoqeM8/s560/2012-03-17%2520007-2.JPG

Try living on the coast in Florida - not only do we get the St. Patrick Day stuff -- we get several weeks of "Spring Break"...oh, the joy of traffic, drunks, drunks, traffic, etc. etc. etc.

Well, I "celebrated" St. Pat's Day by driving down to Arlington, WA & riding the "McClinchy Mile," which in my case was a total of 157 km. They've got three loops rides you can do, so I did them all. I think it should have added up to 100 miles (160 km), but it rained throughout the day, so the arrows got washed off the road, so I ended up having to refer to the route sheet, and missing one of the turns, but it was close enough to the finish that I just rode straight there. The day started off wet and raining, then it got downright cold, before the sun came out near the end. I took along three pairs of gloves and I used them all (changing as they got soaked). A typical cold, wet day in the Pac NW, so cold and wet that I didn't even fill my waterbottle. I always start these organized rides with an empty bottle, expecting hills before the first rest stop where I actually fill the bottle. But this ride was so cold and wet I didn't even need to fill it. I think after 40 years of cycling, your body becomes extremely efficient on the bike. I just had a few cookies, bananas, and grapes at each of the four or five stops along the way. Not too many other riders, rode by myself the whole way, on the fixie, of course. This section of Washington along the I-5 corridor about 40 miles north of Seattle is quiet & picturesque, especially in good weather. The odd yahoo, though. I had empty bottles thrown at me and some other guy cursing at me from a car, which you don't normally get in rural WA, but maybe it was just St. Pat's Day.

Then afterwards I stopped at Bob's Burgers & Brew off I-5 on the drive home and had a pint of Scotch Ale and the usual bleu cheese burger. A fitting end to the day. Everyone at the grill was very well-behaved. Probably mostly Canadians on the way home.

Luis

Try living on the coast in Florida - not only do we get the St. Patrick Day stuff -- we get several weeks of "Spring Break"...oh, the joy of traffic, drunks, drunks, traffic, etc. etc. etc.

We get that at "the beach", except it starts the last weekend in June and runs until Labour Day... I deliver mail out there, and this week is wonderful, traffic is still in winter mode (non-existent), the drunks are still in the city.....

While all the revelers were up in TSL's neighborhood soaking up the warmth and the suds, I was on the north side of town cruising along the cool and foggy lakeshore on almost empty roadways. :beer:



I guess it's all about location!!