Swilladelphia - Happy St. Patty's Day

This post has nothing to do with alcohol, really, but what is St. Patty's Day if not an occasion to throw around Irish stereotypes? It's also a great time to be a WASP frat boy who appropriates Irish national pride in order to justify getting sh*tfaced before lunch. Ironically, it's not really a great time to be Irish.

Ahh, St. Patty's Day. That magical time of year when the sweet scent of privilege on Penn's campus is transformed into the acrid reek of partially-digested beer. A time for playing "Spot the Lush" or starting one of those "March Madness" pools to see which wasted Wawa patron will hurl in the bagel basket.

Personally, to honor the day I will be spending tomorrow slurping up bowlfuls of delicious corned beef and cabbage (which is hands-down the best thing about St. Patty's Day, for the record). For now, I just thought since we're on the subject that we could use this opportunity to review, in photo essay form, the varying definitions of Irish national pride in America versus Ireland. Shall we?

(Images courtesy of philly.com's article on the rioting in Northern Ireland and Google image search, i.e. equally reputable news sources.)

America:




Ireland:




America:




Ireland:




Do you need another one? All right.

Ireland:




Annnnnnnd America:




You're welcome. So on this auspicious weekend, let's give a shout out to those whose cultural values include staying strong in the struggle against occupation. Erin Go Bragh!