The St. Patricks Day Parade

I am a true Irishman who loves the St. Patrick's Day Parade which is held here in Wilkes-Barre every year. It is always great to see all of the green, the bagpipers as well as the floats and decorated cars and trucks file down S. Main St around Public Square and then down N. Main. I am so Irish, I even wear a kilt for the parade and then again on St. Patrick's Day. I love the color green, I love the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and had bagpipes play at my wedding. That's how Irish I am. However, the St. Patrick's Day Parade has lost some of its excitement for me. It has become a field day for welfare families to bring their kids to get free-bee's. These people line the streets not to celebrate the Irish, but to scoff up a free meal of candy and bubble gum. If you give them a CD or a toy, they jump up and down like it was Christmas. Believe me, I have marched in this parade and if you don't give something away, they don't even want to see you. They even yell at you if you don't throw something their way. These dregs pack in along the parade route just like they pack in at the welfare office waiting for the free handout. This crap drives me crazy! What happened to the days when no one threw out the free-bee's. People came to the parade to celebrate the Irish, that's what! When I was a kid we just wanted to see all of the fire trucks and floats. We were happy with that. Now, we have to throw candy on the ground and watch the kids scurry around like squirrels looking for their nuts. I say no more hand outs for the next 3 years and then you will see the attendance drop along the parade route. Lets get back to the old days when we appreciated just being at the parade. We didn't expect anything other than the Shriners on their minibikes and the bagpipes.

A quick note, The Right To Gripe will be on the road on Sunday. We will be at Senunas' Bar on N. Main Street starting at about 2pm. Look for the bald guy in the kilt. Come over, say hello and toast the Irish with a cold beer.