It's that time of year - a week of green-tinted beer, green-tinged bagels, and an overabundance of green streamers and shamrock-shaped accessories and five dollar Old Navy shirts with clovers prominently displayed on the chest.What would St. Patrick's Day be without our bizarre, Americanized version of a culture we apparently know very little about? It is our job, as Americans, to mock and exploit the Irish culture by upholding commonly-held stereotypes. And the best way to do this? Through these five products.
Oh: and as a person with a good amount of Irish heritage in her blood, I'm proud to say that I've never ingested that green goo-like substance that McDonald's sells every year around this time. And now I'll brace myself for the inevitable barrage of hate comments from Shamrock Shake devotees...
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-11-2008 @ 3:21PM
noza said...
Hmm... last time I checked, Haggis is Scottish, not Irish. (But maybe that's part of the irony)
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3-11-2008 @ 4:59PM
CandyPandora said...
This is NOT hate mail... but it seems like you've totally missed the point. St. Patrick's Day is an AMERICAN festival. Ask any Irish person (an Irish person is from Ireland, not someone boasting a certain percentage of Irish blood). It's a day where we celebrate all that Irish immigrants have acheived in America. If you have a problem with that, can't you just quietly stay at home and avoid all the obnoxious people with fake Irish accents? Why does everyone have to hate on the Shamrock Shake?
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3-11-2008 @ 5:09PM
Kaye said...
Here in Ireland, we do indeed celebrate st Patricks day. It being an IRISH "holiday".
Flaming aside, I can't imagine that anyone Irish would dislike the stereotypical stuff that is sold around the world, I mean, it keeps the Irish tourist trade steady. WE love it when you Americans visit, you spend so much!!
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3-11-2008 @ 5:15PM
Kristi said...
Oh please. American's have bastardized just about every foreign food--pizza and tacos come immediately to mind here, and I'm sure most "chinese" and "indian" restaurants serve food that scarcely resembles food actually eaten in either China or India. Why on earth should Ireland be exempt?
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3-11-2008 @ 5:18PM
Erin said...
You can always drink some Guinness or Murphy's and read some Irish History in Song posts to take the edge off:
http://edward.oconnor.cx/2008/03/thousands-are-sailing
http://edward.oconnor.cx/2007/03/irish-history-in-song
http://edward.oconnor.cx/2006/03/irish-history-in-song
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3-11-2008 @ 7:43PM
justin said...
"more of a guideline than an actual law..."
Regardless, I cant wait to bastardize St. Patrick's Day! Im going to Bastard the Hell out of it!
/snark
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3-11-2008 @ 8:28PM
justin said...
Is there something like Godwin's Law that states that a thread eventually devolves into bashing America?
some slashfoodies need to give it a rest.
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3-11-2008 @ 8:28PM
Kaye said...
Justin, There is no such law.
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3-12-2008 @ 8:34AM
Enrique said...
This is something interesting, I have never seen! http://www.spymac.com/details/?2351184
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3-12-2008 @ 1:41PM
Kearns said...
If you prefer the truly Irish experience St. Patrick's Day, just go to mass at St. Patricks Cathedrial conviniently located in NYC, or Dublin if that's closer...
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3-13-2008 @ 11:17AM
Katie said...
Anti-Americanism is so rampant, it makes me so sad. I thought a food blog was one place where we could avoid that. I guess not.
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