Saint Patrick’s Day 2019 was different than previous years for me. I don’t normally celebrate St. Patty’s Day too heavily, as I consider it to be an “amateur drinking holiday.” That’s not to say that I consider myself a professional drinker, but to say that St. Patrick’s Day typically serves as an excuse for people who can’t hold their booze to go out in public and act like total fools. Plus, I had often found myself in locations that were not exactly conducive to the typical St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
In 2016 I was in Qatar for Saint Patrick’s Day, with a 3 drink per day maximum, and I had cut out drinking in an effort to maximize weight loss. In 2017 I was at OCSJ-X at Fort Bliss, Texas, and I had a blast there, but not too much of one since I had to work again in the morning. In 2018, I was back in Qatar, but this time I was able to imbibe in my three drinks. Yippee…
For 2019 though, I was back in the USA, and going to school with a bunch of folks from the other branches of the military (and the Coast Guard!). I was curious to see how people in the other branches celebrated such an alcohol soaked occasion.
So too was my youngest brother, apparently, for he was coming to visit with his girlfriend and said “I want to drink with your military friends.”
What a terrible thing for Max to say, for if they ever were to find out that he had said such a thing, he would be immediately targeted, engaged with drinks, and shortly obliterated while Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen chuckled at his expense. These are seasoned party-goers, Military Officers of the highest esteem, tightly wound and looking for a chance to blow off steam.
Naturally, I told everyone I could that Max wanted to “drink with my military friends.”
I believe one of my new friends, a Marine, had Max doing a keg stand as soon as we entered the party. Jenna, Max’s girlfriend, was spared such targeting because she never made such provocative statements.
Keg stands, beer bongs, shots of Irish Whisky. We hadn’t been there but a few hours and Max was napping on the couch, being attended to by Jenna, who assured us that this was “very on-brand for Max.”
While the revelry and fun of a Sailor-hosted St. Patrick’s day party was a blast, that wasn’t even the best part about that weekend. Don’t worry about Max, he turned out fine, and due to the fact that he was a bit younger than the average person in attendance at the party, his hangover didn’t punish him into the next week like it did many of my compatriots.
In fact, Max and Jenna stayed with me for about a week, taking in all the sights that Monterey had to offer. I even let them borrow my Audi to drive around the peninsula, because I am a gracious, accommodating host. While it was nice to see Max and Jenna, they weren’t the best part of that week either.
The best part of Saint Patrick’s day was that I met Calvin that weekend, and would be getting to bring him home with me shortly.
But that’s a story for later.