Green Beers

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St. Patrick's Day is Tuesday.

Of course it is also my beautiful wife's birthday so we are going to have to get through the St. Patrick's Day memories today because my wife's birthday trumps all.

I think of one particular St. Patrick's Day each and every year.

I was a college student. I believe I was a junior at Gannon University. My buddies were all around:

George, Gema, Millie, Stengel, Diane, Lisa, Guy...

...we were a mess.

We were drinking on the 16th. St. Patrick's fell on a Saturday.

Not a good thing.

Because college students think of stupid things like:

"Hey! Let's stay up all night! We can get a green beer in the morning!"

The attraction of getting that first green beer on the morning of the 17th was that if we were there before 10 a.m., we didn't have to pay to enter the all-day party!

I think we saved two bucks each.

Anywhoha...

The idea was as dumb as it sounds.

We stayed up partying all night long. When the sun came up we stumbled to the frat house and the bright-eyed frat boys at the Shiek house poured us a nice, lukewarm, green beer.

We had to drink it down to secure our free entrance.

I still remember gagging that beer down.

I just shivered writing that sentence.

But...we were in!

We returned in the early afternoon...

...and to my friends George Ray, Brian Stengel and Diane Campbell...

...I will never forget sitting in the basement, on beach chairs, daring one another to eat goldfish and chase them with green beer.

I know Brian had at least three.

Diane may have had more than that.

I may have had a couple.

George abstained.

30 years have passed.

Somewhere out there a bunch of college students are gathered.

They are downing green beers.

Perhaps the beer is chasing the gold fish to the stomach.

I just shivered again.

St. Patrick has to really wonder what the hell happened to turn him into the patron saint of everything stupid!

Enjoy the parties!

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