First, do you even know what the hell St. Patrick’s Day is?  I’m guessing if you’re not Irish Catholic, you have no freaking idea! Here’s some knowledge:

“The revelry, of course, is all in the name of Saint Patrick, who was born in Britain but sold into slavery in Ireland as a child. He eventually escaped but after becoming deeply religious he decided to return to Ireland to spread the word of Christ. Legend has it Saint Patrick was responsible for making the shamrock synonymous with Ireland after using the three-leaf clover to demonstrate the Holy Trinity. He’s also been attributed with driving snakes out of Ireland.”

Okay, so now you can put into context why you wear green, pinch butts and drink green beer…

Originally, St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland was a religious holiday and people would go to church, and pubs would be closed. As the Irish came to America they used St. Patrick’s Day as a holiday to celebrate their heritage. Now, 34 million Americans claiming to have Irish roots celebrate each St. Patrick’s Day. Also, the 4.7 Million actual residents of Ireland celebrate as well.

It’s so American that we took a great holiday like St. Patrick’s Day and turned it into a fake holiday and an opportunity to sell crap! Kiss Me, I’m Irish!

How’s your office celebrating St. Patrick’s Day?

Since the holiday as turned into mainly a drinking holiday, my guess is most organizations struggle with how to really celebrate. I mean who doesn’t want a green beer when walking into the office at 8am, but it makes for a really long day, plus NCAA games begin at noon. Yep, that’s right, the first day of Basketball Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day begin on the same day in 2016. Ugh, I’m going to have a green tongue for a week!

My guess is most offices will be pretty cleared out by noon, today.  Basketball games, plus beer = half day PTO requests!

But, for the those folks who are staying around to keep business moving, enjoy the green Kool-Aid and green cookies in the breakroom that HR ordered. But, only two cookies please, last year we ran out.