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On Friday, the luck of the Irish extends to parking meters in Boston

The city reports that all parking meters are free all day on Friday, OK, officially because it's Evacuation Day, not St. Patrick's Day, but still.

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Because it’s also Evacuation Day, a city holiday.

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you still have to move your car after the posted limit - usually 2 hours.
Happy St. Patrick's Day, you magnificent Irish bastards, regardless of your lineage.

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I will be celebrating in Southie as I usually do, taking a walk around Dorchester Heights this afternoon.

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State holiday and Boston holiday I believe.

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Boston and Chelsea

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n/t

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Believe Somerville's in on the action, too- as only non-Suffolk celebrant

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Saint Patrick's Day parades have been held in Boston since 1876, but Evacuation Day was not declared a holiday in the city until 1901[4] amid interest in local history that also resulted in the construction of the Dorchester Heights Monument. The state made it a holiday in Suffolk County in 1938.[4] The large Irish population of Boston at that time played a role in the establishment of the holiday.[5] A 1941 law established the holiday in Suffolk County, signed in both black and green ink.[3]

wikipedia

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it would have been some other revolutionary or colonial event that happened on March 17th.

That' s my belief. If anyone wants to try to refute that, I'm listening.

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The day somebody kicked a piggin all over Boston Common.

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They knew what they were doing.

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...on St. Patrick's Day.

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negative stereotypes which is so much better.

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It's not a negative stereotype to say that St. Patrick's Day in Boston is a day when lots of people (regardless of their ethnicity) tend to drink heavily. That's a reality.

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If someone get's drunk, it's good that they leave their car at a meter until they sober up, instead of having to move after 2 hours.

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aren't Irish by descent.

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never spent a St. Patrick's Day in Boston, or who doesn't know a single person who works in a bar or restaurant here.

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I'm sorry if this makes you feel attacked, but St. Patrick's Day is dangerous. That's really too bad for those for whom it is/has been some kind of sincerely close-to-the-heart observance of something (although, honestly, I'm doubtful of the authenticity of such claims), but as it stands now it's a drinking holiday, like New Years and Cinco de Mayo. Any cultural observations are a fig leaf that post-dates the day's history as a day to get shitfaced.

Careful readers will note that none of the above says or contributes to ethnic stereotypes of Irish people being too given to drinking. It doesn't have anything to do with anything Irish, that's the point, any more than Cinco de Mayo in the United States is or ever has been a commemoration of Mexican history and culture. If Irish-Americans don't like that, then perhaps they can find ways to reform the holiday. But yelling "negative stereotypes" when people who have experienced St. Patrick's Day in Boston talk from experience.

(closest I ever came to being hit by a car as a pedestrian, and I was in a group of about six people, in a crosswalk, under bright lights. Car just cruised right through the red and if he hadn't been moving like a float in the Tournament of Roses parade, he'd have gotten us all)

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"If Irish-Americans don't like that, then perhaps they can find ways to reform the holiday."

Yes, we will be holding a fucking synod with members from each of the 32 counites, each Northeastern US state, Four Canadian Provinces, The remnants of the Buenos Aires Irish community, select members of the Lancashire GAA and special appointees from Hammersmith, Camden Town, and Kilburn in London. The delegation from Australia is reported to be sending people as well, all to satisfy you and yours from being bothered by we pale monkeys outside The Pale.

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Skip the grievance act, John, it's been stale for a long time. For once stop deliberately misconstruing what people say in order to get your grievance jollies. The point is a simple one for anyone not trying to hear it over the sound of a grinding ax: St. Patrick's Day has a reputation that is bolstered every year by the practices and behaviors that have come to be common on that day. If you, as an Irish-American, don't like that reputation, if you find these antics deplorable, then you as an Irish-American are in the right position to do something toremedy that. How? That's up to you, there are all kinds of possibilities. Creating cultural events that do not focus on (or perhaps even include) alcohol is one option. Producing educational materials about the day and its history is another. Abstaining from celebrating, or pointing out that it's a saint's day and that there are better ways to observe it, maybe that's another. I'm sure you can think of others.

And, by all means, feel free to call out the assholes who deck themselves in plastic hats covered with green glitter and pander to cringeworthy cultural stereotypes. They deserve it, and I fully support you in doing so. But here's the thing, and I say this with every good intention: you're going to have a hard time shutting down the assholes who put the label "Irish" on their ridiculous behavior unless you tell the story of who you are. "No, we're not" won't do the job by itself, no matter how loud or angry or abusive you are in saying so. All people who are on the receiving end of negative stereotypes need to use a whole range of tools to fight back, and you're only using one.

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You left out the AOH

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Their vending machines only carry the cheap Hershey imitation Crunchies, Flakes, and Whole Nuts over the authentic Cadbury kind. Plastic Paddies the lot of them.

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But just to clarify, are you saying its unfair to take the actions of some members of a homogeneous group and place responsibility on the larger portions of said group to address and reform around those issues?

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I'll dissect ibb's raving later (if I have time after the last glimmer of heat from my tournament brackets crashing and burning), but just wanted to put geographic context into your synod, John. If it's "we pale monkeys outside The Pale", then by definition shouldn't 4 counties get only partial representation?
Oh - and you forgot Montanna!

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No limits at meters means less turnover, which means fewer cars can park.

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Right?

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The T celebrates Evacuation Day by ordering passengers to evacuate the underground subway stations and ordering them to proceed up to street level to wait for ghost shuttle buses that never appear.

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Of course it will be raining as well.

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We should be charging more for parking at times of high demand to discourage people from driving and incentivize public transit use. This should be even more true on days where there is high demand and an extremely high probability of drunk driving.

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Will the T be free?

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Will the T be free?

But only the lines that aren't working.

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Good to know.

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Will the Mass Pike?

What about parking garages?

Gas tax? Or the gas itself?

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The shuttle bus from South Station to the parade will be free.

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