"You're not going out in that wig, are you?"

"Oh yes, I most certainly am," I replied to my husband's query. I love St. Patrick's Day, almost as much as I love Halloween. This year it fell on the night before my first day at my new clinical assignment...so I couldn't have too many adult beverages, but Songs for Ceilidh was playing at the Chief tan, and it's like the stars were aligned for a bit of light debauchery.

We headed up to the bar around 7pm. There was a line out front, but we somehow got lucky and found an empty spot to park in out back and we snuck in through the open back door. PJ and I happened to know one of the lovely bartenders on duty that evening and I had a Miller Lite in my hand almost instantaneously! Sweet.

One of the good things about taking it easy (I had two Miller Lite's and one Smithick's) on the drinks is that you get to laugh at the other people who are in the bar. They are as follows:

Drunk Irish Dude- This guy came up and started talking to me. (Generally, no strangers talk to me while I'm out-but throw on a green wig and it's an open invitation for chatting) This guy, with a super thick brogue proceeds to tell me that he plays the whistle (apparently a popular instrument in Irish music) and he can not only play the whistle, but plays various sizes and styles (he also told me that all wives should be at home with their children-except for me of course, because I seem really nice and appreciate his whistle talent). "Yeah, I bet he plays the skin flute," mutters PJ as the guy wandered off to get another drink. I only stayed until 9:30, but I was really hoping he would hop on stage and hijack a whistle.

Assorted Elderly People: The older people were drawn to my wig like it was a Matlock marathon. They were all liquored up on Ensure-bombs or something, and a few of them touched my shamrock antennae and high-fived me.

The family: Okay, this one was a little weird. I came back from the bathroom and saw a young man with his mom and dad. All had a beer. Why is this strange? Because the son had DOWN SYNDROME. This is strange to me. I was totally unaware that handicapped people (I mean really handicapped, not the ones who just seem mentally incompetent) were into drinking. I have a handicapped uncle, so I'm not totally uneducated about handicapped people. He says, "Alcohol is bad, it will make you sick and die." So, I just assumed all the other handicappers were of the same view (although my uncle also says that Jesus had Segrams 7 and lasagna at the Last Supper, so he's obviously no authority either). It was just shocking to see. He was also drinking a Bud Light, which in my experience is the drink of those with a diminished mental capacity. (Yep, I know, I'm going to hell for saying that.)

So enjoy my embarrassing picture...Slainte!