St. Patrick's Day

Every year for St. Patrick's Day, I am confused by it. I understand that there were a lot of Irish immigrants to this country, they worked hard in crumby jobs and laid the groundwork for many of the luxuries we now have, and they entered this country enough time ago that we have forgotten that being a drunk Irishman used to be an ethnic stereotype and not a basis for cute t-shirt slogans.

The t-shirts really put an exclamation point on the fact that this holiday is not about celebrating one's Irish heritage as much of an excuse to wear stupid costumes and drink too much starting much too early in the morning (I would point you towards the bottom of the list, are drink specials at 8 am really necessary?). I would also like to point out at this time, that making excuses to get drunk is a calling card of an alcoholic, how would you respond if a relative/friend started getting drunk at 8 in the morning on any other saint's day?

I must tread carefully on this subject because I am not Irish, and I wouldn't want to be accused of being racist by some drunk idiot who thinks his 1/16th Irishness needs to be defended at all costs. But I do feel that it is reasonable that the annual St. Patrick's Day celebrations should include more of this and less of this.

And if your city does not have a group of people so proud of their Irish heritage that they practice Irish dancing, or wear kilts and play bagpipes, maybe we should question that said city's need for a parade.