Happy St. Patrick's Day!

As someone that has spent over a decade (off and on) as a bartender, I pretty much despise Amateur Hour. For years, the idea of going out to the bar on a Friday or Saturday night has always sounded absurd...I mean, why would I? On the weekends the bar is packed to the gills with people that only drink on rare occasions and have no idea how to handle themselves when they do. Umm, I'll pass. Give me a Sunday or a Tuesday night out anytime, thank you.

It's for this same reason that I hold a particular hatred for the Amateur Holidays. New Years Eve? Terrible. 4th of July? Can't stand it. It's the same principle as a Saturday night out, but to the fourth power. No thanks, I'll stay home and avoid having my shoes puked on, thank you very much.

However, there is--and has always been, for me--one exception to the Amateur Hour rule: St. Patrick's Day. I fuckin love St. Pat's. It's my favorite holiday of the year. Maybe it has something to do with the time I spent in Savannah, GA, home of the world's largest St. Patty's Day festival. Maybe it's because wherever you go on March 17th it's a complete shit-show from sunrise to sunset. Maybe because it's 24 hours of watching people furiously grasp at that elusive thing known as "fun" and try and ride it as hard and as fast as they can.

This might have something do do with it as well.

Truth be told, it really doesn't matter why. The fact of the matter is that today, on my favorite day of the year--whether you're partaking or just observing--I have one thing and one thing only to say to you: Sláinte, my friend.