Green Beer

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I used to really love St. Patrick’s Day. Some of my fondest memories from graduate school involve drinking miller highlife with green food coloring, or mojitos, or margaritas, or any other green alcoholic beverage we could come up with, and watching the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. I spent the entire day camped in front of the television, laughing and enjoying the company of friends. In college, as in graduate school, St. Patrick’s Day tended to fall during our two-week-long spring break. Though my college celebrations involved slightly less food coloring, there was, nevertheless, plenty to celebrate about not having to go to class for two weeks straight. Yes, St. Patrick’s Day was a reminder that I was young, carefree, and able to go on a day-long bender without any real repercussions—after all, I had Irish ancestry—that gave me an excuse, right?

Oh to turn back the clock to those days. In my mind, unless it falls on a Friday or Saturday, St. Patrick’s Day is one of those holidays that loses it’s charm upon graduation. Rather than a festive occasion heralded in with green beer and leprechaun decorations, St. Patrick’s day to the working adult means having to stand in front of your closet and decide whether to be cheesy and wear a green twin-set to the office, or to ignore the day entirely but for enjoying a green-frosted sugar cookie from the plate someone left in the kitchen.

As I sat down to come up with a topic for this week’s “free” blog, I couldn’t help but chuckle at just how many holidays lose a bit of their charm when forced to work. It got me thinking—when was the last time you attended a Columbus Day parade? Did you dress up in costume on Halloween? Or did you pass out Valentines to co-workers, or have an easter-egg hunt in the office supply closet? Nope. None of that.

Maybe it’s a sign that my newly-minted professional self still hasn’t quite adjusted. Or maybe it’s just that I’m so distracted this week that I wanted any excuse possible to have a day off to celebrate. Regardless of the reason, St. Patrick’s Day seems under-appreciated and under-celebrated this year. And I find it depressing. Sure, I could try to be really adventurous and suggest that the office adopt a green-high-life happy hour policy to ring in the day, but something tells me such a proposal wouldn’t be particularly welcomed in my white-collar job. I guess I’ll just have to adopt a policy of only really celebrating St. Patrick’s Day every seven years or so. Or maybe I’ll just buy a six pack of Guinness on my way home an enjoy a single stout and some bangers and mash. Cheers!