Tomorrow the City of Rochester will hold its annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.
St. Patrick was the Italian man credited with driving the snakes out of Ireland.
The city always has the parade on Saturday rather than March 17 for a couple of reasons.
One: The parade route runs through downtown Rochester, which has been dead for years. The few offices that remain downtown are closed on weekends, meaning that there will be next to no traffic to control.
Two: St. Patrick's Day weekend is an excuse for the uninhibited imbibing of Irish-style beers and whisky, as if some dipsomaniacs need an excuse. This activity will start tonight and continue through Sunday. Hopefully, the revelers will be able to nurse their hangovers and be in to work reasonably sober on Monday morning. It's more convenient to go out on a weekend drunk than a mid week one.
It is because of this fact that the police will be out in full force this weekend, establishing sobriety checkpoints throughout the city and surrounding areas, to catch drunk drivers. It's a big day for law enforcement, since they usually nab plenty of boozehounds on their way home from celebrating.
Most restaurants will be offering entrees of corned beef and cabbage to celebrate the day. As I understand it, that is an American, not an Irish, bill of fare.
The parade itself will feature some Irish-style dancing, a very few Irish-American organizations, politicians looking to be seen in public or running for office and for the most part associations and city departments that have nothing to do with Ireland or Italy. They'll be decked out in green, wearing shamrock symbols and other accessories purchased from the Dollar Store trying to look Irish.
Whatever in Hell that means.
But whatever you do this weekend, watch out for the cops.
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