Today is St. Patrick’s Day. A week ago I went to Worcester County’s Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Last night I went out to celebrate. I’ll probably go out again tonight. I realized, just a few moments ago, that is a lot of celebrating for a holiday that doesn’t really mean a lot to me. Don’t get me wrong, great holiday, but I’m more in it for the sport of it. I don’t even know who St. Patrick was and I’m like 30% Irish at best. (I’m actually a good mix, I guess I associate mostly with the Italian part of me, but that’s just because my last name is Aromando.)
Valentine’s Day on the other hand, I hate that day. What a stupid day. It might as well be called “Buy-someone-some-candy Day” because that’s what it means to me. I don’t even do flowers or dinner or anything, just candy and then I wash my hands of the day. I suppose if it was a true boycott, I wouldn’t buy anything but I’m not an uncaring monster. (This year I went to a k.flay show.)
So in my recent realization about how much I celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, I thought about how ironic it is that I hate Valentine’s Day. They’re both holidays that people have long stopped caring about their meanings (I don’t know the meanings for either) and are very commercialized. It just so happens that St. Patrick’s Day’s version of commercialization is a lot more fun.
Now that I know this, will it change my opinion of anything? Well, no. I still like one and hate the other, but I’ll feel kind of hypocritical every time I berate Valentine’s Day for being stupid, knowing that in just over a month I’ll be having a few beers in honor of some guy I know nothing about.
