I have never been to Boston on March
17th, but I think New York does a pretty good job of celebrating
Saint Patrick's Day. Of course the pubs are jammed, and there are
shamrocks and all sorts of sparkly green googahs in the store
windows and on people's bodies. It's the biggest holiday alongside Christmas. Even
strangers on the subway will ask, "where's your green?" A
traditional job for the Irish was on the police force and they are
out in full, participating in the giant parade down Fifth Avenue.
About 150,000 people march in the
parade, so if you want to join in, here are couple of suggestions for how to do that. If you have time, you can find
a group that's committed to march and contact them before parade day
and ask to join them. Or you can find a group that are not wearing
uniforms and mingle in where they are congregated before the parade
starts - meaning, talk to them. Once their group gets the signal to join the
parade, jump in and start marching with them. One year, I did that. I only
marched a few blocks with police detectives, but it was really fun to
be a part of it.
The parade starts at a decent hour, 11
a.m., in midtown around 44th Street near St. Patrick's Cathedral on
Fifth Avenue. From there, it proceeds north up Fifth Avenue to 79th Street. A
few zillion people line the parade route - all wearing green hats or
sunglasses or shirts, coats, shoes. All loud and cheerful. It's a
green day. And this year, it will be a green day against a
background of slushy snow.
New York has a law that you can't drink
outside - not even on your own front porch - so there's no beer
bottles to get broken and hurt someone, but there are plenty of bars
along the parade route and they will be rocking. Also, no animals
allowed, so you won't trip over a dog leash when you come back
outside from the pub.
Of course, if it's your birthday and
you live in sunny Los Angeles well...that's a different story.
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| Happy Birthday, Cameron! |
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