Thursday, September 15, 2016

Some Potentially Helpful Reminders

I learned this past week that the blog's recent inability to comprehend and present the fact that Ireland is a separate, and uniquely valuable nation, independent of, and emphatically not part of, the United Kingdom caused a few hard feelings.

I certainly apologize for my geopolitical ignorance (which certainly doesn't stop there), and in an effort to make amends have come up with this list of Five Things that Might Help One to Remember that Ireland Is Its Own Independent Nation and Not a Part of the UK...


#5, The Irish Wolfhound

It's not many dogs that can stand up and look at me eye to eye, so props to the country that produced one that can. And the fact that they also a) look like a little black rain clouds (relative to other clouds, not other dogs), and b) are very sweet and mellow, is further credit to the people that groomed the breed.



#4, American Football

For purposes here, avoid European football. Way too many "international" competitions with teams coming from places that aren't actually nations, so that sport's actually more confusing than helpful. Look, instead, to American football, which loves the "fighting Irish" (of whatever variations or flavors). Not too many "battling English" or "marauding Swedes" out there, but lots of Irish. So thinking of football may serve as a useful reminder of Ireland's independence.


#3, St. Patrick's Day

We don't have a St. George's day, a St. Albion's day, a St. Sebastian's Day or, to the best of my recollection, a St. Anyone's day other than St. Patrick. And since St. Patrick -- patron saint of green beer or something -- is so distinctly Irish, remembering that there's a St. Patrick's Day should help serve as a reminder of Ireland's independent status.


#2, The All-Important Musical Questions

Can you think of any contemporary (to me) rock bands that self-identify primarily as, say, Welsh or Scottish? Go ahead. You can Google it. I'll wait. 

Next question: Can you think of any bands that self-identify as Irish?

Need I say more?


#1, My Friend Anne

Last Thursday, my employer had a wake party going away event, to give the folks that had worked with me the chance to officially say goodbye, rather than have me ghost out the back door and disappear. 

More on that event in a bit.

Imagine how gobsmacked I was when my friend, and former co-worker, Anne walked through the door. Anne and I worked together on various committees and projects from the time I started until 2013(? 2012?), when and left to take a job on the East Coast.  But she elected to spend her hard-earned cash, and well-earned vacation time, to fly back for my event. As someone who has been the target of occasional criticism and lamentation over my weirdo introvert's inability to make friends, all I can say is, how many social butterfly extroverts can claim friends that flew across the country to attend their goodbye events? 

Score one for the introverted weirdos. 

But that's hardly fair. Anne's flight out probably says a lot more about how kind and considerate she is, than it does belie the fact that I'm an introverted weirdo. Which leads to my actual point of mentioning all this in that Anne is from Ireland, and takes great pride in her homeland, and so now I feel a little bad that my blog slighted Ireland's political status as an independent, and uniquely valuable nation, only to have one of its best representatives show up at my event. 

So I, for one, will now think of Anne, and absolutely remember that Ireland is not part of the UK. It seems the least -- almost literally -- that I can do. 

2 comments:

  1. Poor little Eire--I felt I had to stand up for it! But I clearly need to reign in my nationalistic tendencies after making the terminal cancer person feel bad ... For the record, the trip was to recognize your awesomeness and how glad I am that our paths crossed. Very best as you navigate the next steps - will be thinking of you.

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  2. So can you explain Scotland? That one ALWAYS gets me confused ��.

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