Two 13 or 14-year-old African American girls overheard on the B65:
“Don’t forget, it’s St. Patrick’s Day.”
“So?”
“You gotta wish happy St. Patrick’s Day to all the white people you see.”
“What for? Not all white people are Irish.”
“In New York they are.”
“That’s crazy. Not all white people in this city are Irish.”
“Today, they are.”
Um … Happy St. Patrick’s Day?
if you want kin, you must plant kin ... 
This is too funny. I get asked a lot about what St. Patrick’s Day is about and I say I am not Irish so I am not really sure. And today, all the kids were wearing green, even the kids who are from very diverse backgrounds and I wondered if they had any idea why they were supposed to wear green today.
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Hilarious…I was in Penn Station, rushing to catch my train, and there were clusters of folks in various kinds of green attire–occasionally a group of young men would let out a whoop or a holler, and the hair on the back of my neck would rise…had the same feeling in LA for Mardi Gras–when whites put on costumes, I get antsy; wish it weren’t that way, but I know why…
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Why, thanks! (I’m in S.F. and it’s a day later, but I am partly Irish. My great-great-great grandfather, give or take a “great,” was born in Belfast.) I happen to be wearing bright green pants today and a bright orange t-shirt and am slapping my forehead that I didn’t think to wear this yesterday. (But I can’t tell you anything about St. Patrick, either. All I know is “green” and “Irish.”)
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I heard that in Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t celebrated until just recently. Go figure. The U.S. just loves a party!
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HA! You’re too funny. We white people do like our costume holidays it’s true. I wonder why that is? I did not dress up this year however, as my liver cannot take another St. Patrick’s day. I am more “Greek” than “White” now do to the complex plan my husband’s family has put into place to have me become full Greek by 2010. Maybe that has something to do with it too…
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Neither my home or work neighborhoods paid much attention to St. Patrick’s Day. There used to be a large Irish population in the area where I work, but the numbers are so small now. The pubs were all decked out, but that was about it.
Zetta– There is something creepy about some of these costume days, isn’t there? I used to work on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, right near where there parade ended. Getting from my job to the subway those days was always a trial: all the bars put tables on the street and sell food and beer and the whole neighborhood is just full of crowds of drunk people, some of whom get really angry if you aren’t amused by them or showing your Irish spirit or whatever. I always felt I was walking a gauntlet getting home those days.
Tisha– My sister-in-law is from Dublin, and she confirmed that this day has always been a much bigger deal here in the States than in Ireland.
Turning Greek, eh Katie? It does sound as though your in-laws have a plan (remembering that olive oil post!) … a tasty plan, at that!
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