3.17.02 – luck o’ th’ irish

st. patrick’s day in buffalo reminds me something of an over-grown frat party. the drinking began as early as 10 am. by the time that i walked downtown to get dinner between shows, the bars along delaware and chippewa were spilling green-clad drunken revelers out into the streets. there were fights, someone was actually run over by a SUV on chippewa street, men and women were peeing and throwing up in the streets, mardi gras beads were being tossed around to the tune of “show us your tits!”. there were parades and live bands and hot-dog stands appeared on all the corners, roving groups of bagpipers (i know, i was thinking the same thing – but maybe there are irish bagpipers as well?), and yellow school buses scooping up and spilling out drunken revelers. the coffee i ordered came topped with green whipped cream and everyone who worked at Spot Coffee seemed to have taken an oath to speak with an irish accent. while i dodging the drunks on my way up main street, for just a moment buffalo seemed like the saddest place i’d ever lived. everyone was partying but no one really seemed to be having fun, they were loud and drunk and seemed to know that they looked silly with green shamrocks painted on their cheeks. on my way back to the theatre it began to snow.