Crazy Lawsuit Game

Hope you're all wearing green today. I am not coincidentally, just forgot. I have loved St. Paddy's Day ever since the first one I had after turning 21. I was in Lexington, KY (Jelly) for an undergraduate research conference at the University of Kentucky. I think it was on a Friday and we were all leaving Sat. Whenever it was, it was the night before we came home. Our chaperones were especially cool and were our designated drivers. We took the school van into town and he dropped us off and told us that he would pick us up at 12 or 1 am. Awesome. So it's 9 pm and we're wandering around the bustling metropolis/college town that is Lexington. So we find a pub, Irish or English, and sit down and have a few pints of Guinness because it is St. Patrick's Day. So we're all pretty sloshed by 11 and the whole scene is winding down. So we all start closing out our tabs when I see a man in a green suit walk by. Green jacket, green pants, green shirt, green hat. And his wife is dressed all in green as well. Being the loud drunk that I am, I say, "Dude, you have to come have a drink with us!"

So um, Seamus (not his real name, his mother was Irish but he's from Jersey) sits down and so does Wifey. They're amazing people with stories out the wazoo. So we have a few more rounds of Guinness and are chatting and having a grand old time. But this experience was my first for a real St. Patrick's Day (previous SPDs don't count if there wasn't booze involved. It's an Irish holiday for fuck's sake.) So I now know what the holiday is all about.

So tonight while I'm camping in the cold, hopefully around a fire if we can find some dry wood, I'll be thinking of that great green man and what St. Patrick's Day means to us all. I think it's Irish pride but I'm sure there is a much nobler meaning than that, but that's good enough for me.