Happy Holidays!

Many people across the world are observing St. Patrick's Day today; honestly, it doesn't mean very much to me.  Yes... I did wear green today, eat cabbage with potatoes and carrots, and have a little bit of Baileys.  I did not, however, take the party route of several glasses of green beer; nor did I take the religious route of going to mass and reflecting on the good deeds of St. Patrick.

It seems that holidays that come out of specific cultures lose their meaning somewhat when they are co-opted by the population at large. Was St. Patrick a great person who is worth celebrating?  Yes.  Does this holiday inspire bar conversations about green throw up? Yes. (I just get a text from my sister asking me about when she was younger and had green vomit from drinking Ecto Cooler. The subject came up while she was out partying with her coworkers. While she may have forgotten, I will never wipe that image from my mind!)

Here are my two current favorite holidays that have lost their meaning:

1. Evacuation Day - March 17

I must admit, this is a new holiday that I just found out about today.  It is celebrated only in Boston.  It commemorates the end of the siege on Boston during the revolutionary war when the British troops finally left the city.  This was George Washington's first big victory, also known as a "pretty big deal."  All state employees in Boston have the day off as a paid holiday.  Fact of the matter is, people in Boston are just way more patriotic than anyone else (do you celebrate Evacuation Day, Bunker Hill Day, Patriot's Day, and Fourth of July?).

To celebrate Evacuation Day you can dress in green, get green beers, kiss Irish people, and do everything else you would do to celebrate St. Patricks day (which is what most people are actually celebrating on this day).  In a sign of the times, this year is the last in which Evacuation Day (and Bunker Hill Day) will be a paid holiday.  It has been deemed too expensive to give an extra paid holiday to all state employees and has been cut out of the budget for the 2012.  Also, Evacuation Day just sounds like the day after a marathon of eating Lay's Wow! potato chips.

Evacuation Day.

2. Pulaski Day - First Monday of March

You can tell how important a holiday is by how few places in the world celebrate it.  Pulaski Day is a holiday in which the life of Casimir Pulaski, the famous Polish Revolutionary War hero (but you already knew that), is celebrated... mostly just in Illinois.

When I was a student teacher I had it explained to me that every month of the school year, there was at least one day off.  Given the significant lack of federal holidays in March, all public schools are closed in Illinois to celebrate the life and accomplishments of this upstanding Polish hero.

Is Casimir Pulaski an inspiring man who left an impressive resume in aiding this country?  Yes.  If you type "Pulaski Day Chicago" into YouTube, does a single video come up of a celebration or recognition of this holiday taking place in the Second City?  No.  You would think that with every public school student in the state having the day off, that at least one of the millions of videos here would address this.

P.S.  This is also the day that my roommates in Chicago accused Laura of burning down half of our apartment complex.

How Laura celebrates Pulaski Day.

Do you celebrate any holidays that have lost their meaning along the way?  I know that I for one am greatly looking forward to Crown Resistance Day come October 3rd!  Meet me in Acton, Massachusetts then if you are looking to par-tay!

Also, we got an empty room if anybody needs a place to crash after Boxborough's Fifer's Day in June!  (Actually, I am kind of excited about this one.)