Ethnic Holidays

I am tired of ethnic holidays that have an entirely different meaning in the "home country" being hijacked.

St. Patrick's Day. In Ireland, a religious holiday. Took an interesting turn with the mass immigration to the United States, lots of green, die a river, talk like a leprechaun, ok, whatever. Never mind that the color St. Patrick was originally associated with was blue. Don't get me wrong- it has been a feast day for a long time, and that always involves alcohol. Now: excuse to wear green lingerie, go downtown, get drunk.

Cinco de Mayo. Although everyone thinks of this as some kind of liberation day for all of Mexico from Spain, it is really only a big deal for the state of Puebla and it was actually from the French. Not even a federal holiday for the rest of Mexico. Mexico has an actual Independence Day, which is September 16. In finding 'evidence' to support a work argument, I even happened upon one of my favorite sentences on Wikipedia ever: "Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's Independence Day, which actually is September 16, the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico, nor is it The Day of the Dead, which occurs on November the 1st and 2nd." In other words, don't combine all Mexican holidays into Cinco de Mayo, drunken frat boys. Spread out your opportunities to get wasted throughout the whole year AND appear more culturally sensitive. I wonder if a candy calavera can hold beer?

Look out Chinese New Year. You may be next.