2008 Woodie Awards
Beer company supports Irish holiday
Commentary
By Jennifer Adkins
Issue date: 3/20/08 Section: Editorial
Americans are finally showing the true "power of the people" in their support of the unacknowledged St. Patrick's Day holiday and proving that law is not more important than what is widely accepted by the people. It is about American tradition, not American heritage.
Why does the school even bother attempting to bring its students back to school on St. Patrick's Day when the country has made it a drinking day? One would think Congress would just give us the extra day, letting us nurture our weeklong hangovers from spring break and St. Patrick's Day. And the fact that St. Patrick is not an American patron saint does not stop millions of people from skipping work to pursue the drunken version of the Irish holiday.
This is part of what Guinness officials say in support of their argument to make St. Patrick's Day an official holiday: to support the demands of the people to call out of work and celebrate. They cite the national observance of Thanksgiving, New Year's Day, Labor Day and Columbus Day as reasons to give St. Patrick the day off as well.
While this is not quite a moral argument, it is not an altogether ridiculous idea either. Why not give the people the holiday they are taking anyway? Let us drink our green beer and get in our bar fights. After all, we are going to skip class anyway, so isn't it in fact the government interfering with our education? It's psychology, not irresponsibility.
Guinness, the top-selling Irish beer, needs one million signatures before it can submit Proposition 3-17 to Congress to make the day an official national holiday. And while the company has purely commercial reasons to pass it, the proposal also coincides with many of the interests of students.
Why does the school even bother attempting to bring its students back to school on St. Patrick's Day when the country has made it a drinking day? One would think Congress would just give us the extra day, letting us nurture our weeklong hangovers from spring break and St. Patrick's Day. And the fact that St. Patrick is not an American patron saint does not stop millions of people from skipping work to pursue the drunken version of the Irish holiday.
This is part of what Guinness officials say in support of their argument to make St. Patrick's Day an official holiday: to support the demands of the people to call out of work and celebrate. They cite the national observance of Thanksgiving, New Year's Day, Labor Day and Columbus Day as reasons to give St. Patrick the day off as well.
While this is not quite a moral argument, it is not an altogether ridiculous idea either. Why not give the people the holiday they are taking anyway? Let us drink our green beer and get in our bar fights. After all, we are going to skip class anyway, so isn't it in fact the government interfering with our education? It's psychology, not irresponsibility.
Guinness, the top-selling Irish beer, needs one million signatures before it can submit Proposition 3-17 to Congress to make the day an official national holiday. And while the company has purely commercial reasons to pass it, the proposal also coincides with many of the interests of students.
