St George's Day
As Enzyme rightly points out, the idea of getting excited about a clearly-mythological dragon-slaying Syrian chap is quite silly. However, for me, making a thing of St George's Day is really just about the principle. (And, being typically anally retentive like a true Englishman)

I'm not a very patriotic person. I don't stand up when I hear our dreary national anthem. And I'm atheist, and so the religious significance of a patron saint is lost on me.

But I'm not Irish. It seems the whole world "remembers" it had Irish roots on St Paddy's Day (particularly the fucking yanks*) which strikes me as silly. I'm not Irish, I'm English. If you want to celebrate the day of your country's patron saint, that's fine by me, and I'll do the same. But I won't go the pub on St Patrick's Day. I'll go on St George's Day. (Just as soon as I can finish up in the lab.)

*_{Just a thought, but given the proximity your average merkin has to an Irish ancestor these days, compared with my few Welsh relatives a couple of generations back, I've probably got more cause to celebrate St David's day than they have St Patrick's...}
(LongJohnBaldry, Thu 23 Apr 2009, 11:25, Reply)