A day to celebrate...but what?

They say on St. Patrick's Day, everyone in Chicago is Irish.

They should say on St. Patrick's Day, everyone in Chicago is drunk on green beer wearing MillerLite green foam leprechaun ears.

Let's be clear, my first St. Pat's Day in Chicago was a little disillusioning, and disheartening.

Like many people in the U.S., I can trace my ancestry back to Ireland. I attended Notre Dame - home of the Fighting Irish, and still wear a claddagh ring my mom gave me when I was in 7th grade. None of these things necessarily make me "Irish" but I have a love of the history and myth of the land.

So when I ended up in Wrigleyville today with a friend, I had a great time catching up with her and meeting other people, but I was really disappointed in what was around me.

Maybe because I'm not a big drinker, or because I have an old soul, but I was faintly disgusted by the behaviour of those around me: the drunkenness, the rudeness, the guy puking on the sidewalk, the guy yelling at every girl that he passed - "Show my your green boobs!", the MillerLite branded shamrock everything being worn and also tossed on the floor and the street and peoples' cars...well, let's just say not my thing.

For a holiday based on the life and spirit of a saint, for some reason it just bothered me. I'm not trying to come across as judgmental or superior, because I'm not, but the use of a holiday to act like a drunken idiot at 2:00pm just isn't right.

When the Starbucks guy his dreading all of the drunken customers around 6:00pm trying to sober up so they can start drinking again and then dreading is walk home because of all the puke on streets, that just doesn't seem right, either.

Maybe I just don't get it, or maybe I'm a party-pooper, but I think next year, I will be celebrating the holiday away from the crowds of wasted 20-somethings dressed in green.