Alright, let’s talk about this whole ‘born on St. Patrick’s Day’ thing. It sounds kinda fun, right? Lucky charm baby and all that jazz.
Well, let me tell you, it’s mostly just… a birthday. Like anyone else’s. But people make it weird sometimes. Seriously weird. I didn’t really think much about it growing up. It was just my birthday, March 17th. Cake, presents, the usual kid stuff. My folks didn’t make a huge deal about the St. Paddy’s connection, thankfully.
But then you get older. You start telling people your birthday. And the reactions? Oh boy.
- “Oh! Are you Irish?” (Nope, not really.)
- “Wow, you must be so lucky!” (Yeah, tell that to my car that broke down last week.)
- “Do you wear green all day?” (Only if I feel like it, same as any other day.)
- “Free drinks for you, huh?” (Wishful thinking, buddy.)
It gets old. Fast. Especially when you just want to have a normal birthday celebration. I remember one year, I tried to book a table at a restaurant. Just a quiet dinner with a few friends. Called up, gave the date, March 17th. The person on the phone immediately goes, “Oh, St. Patrick’s Day! Big party night! We’ve got a special menu, green beer, loud music!”
I tried explaining, “No, no, it’s just my birthday, I was hoping for something kinda low-key.” They didn’t get it. It was like trying to talk to a wall. Everything that day gets swallowed up by the holiday.
So what’s the practice here?
For me, the “practice” has been learning to just roll with it, I guess. And trying to carve out my own little space within the chaos. Sometimes I lean into it, wear a bit of green just for laughs. Other times, I actively plan my celebration for the weekend before or after the 17th, just to avoid the madness. You gotta adapt, you know?
It’s also been a practice in patience. Explaining for the hundredth time that no, I don’t have a pot of gold, and yes, I still have bad luck sometimes. It’s just a date on the calendar. A slightly greener, maybe slightly louder date than most, but still just a date.
So yeah. Born on St. Patrick’s Day. It is what it is. You just live with it, find the humor where you can, and try not to get pinched.
