Green Enchiladas and Ham
Everybody’s Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day…
I have the SARS. Its feels like someone has punched me in the sternum and cleaned my throat with a catcus plant. My head is spinning like I have been sipping fifteen year old scotch since three this afternoon, and my balance isn’t too far off. I am ever the one who claims to be immune to sickness, so much so that I have begun to actualy believe this. Therefore, this may not be some sort of malady; no, I think I may just be dying… something I would easily attribute to Karma.
I say this because of the wonderful Saint Patrick’s Day I had. No, it was not the rip-roaring celebration that was “Get Lucky In Lawton” last year at my tiny appartment on the wrong side of that sleepy little Oklahoman town. No, there was no keg of Harps’ Lager in my shower this year, and no, did not black out this time either. But those negatives should hardly be marks against success! As a matter of fact, this year I didn’t even drink my first sip of Guinness until around eight o’clock. What’s more, I didn’t even have that much of a hangover the next day. Let me give you a quick recap.
I caught a four o’clock showing of 300 with a new friend (not girlfriend for those of you who are keep track) whom I believe will become a more common feature in these posts. With that said, lets call her Asia. As a quick note, 300 kicks ass; not a moving film or terribly remarkable in anything other than the intensity of Gerald Bulter and the visual effects that just keep coming. But enough of that, just go see it. By the time we got home, changed, and ready to go out, it was nearly eight. We had a few stops in mind, and since Asia hardly drinks, she makes the perfect designated driver, something that is an absolute must in a military town on a drinking holiday that just happened to fall two days after a pay cycle. Translation - all the boys are out getting loaded with a fresh pay check and five-o knows it.
Asia and I get to the first bar, Paddy’s, formerly known as Wheelers. The story here is one of Paddy Gibney, an Irishmen who lives here in Fayetteville and is part and parcel of the singing duo, Paddy and Bill. Bill Ayerbe is a member of the Fayetteville Symphony (yes, there is in fact a symphony here… I didn’t believe it either) as a violinist, and he’s damn good, if I could offer my humble opinion into the scenario. Now, these two are more-or-less local celebrities who’s shows draw quiet a crowd and provide quiet a deal of lively entertainment. Irish sing-alongs inevitably involve crowd participation, breast bearing, and no shortage of Guinness drinking. Moreover, the occasional cover song and guest musician just add to the fun. All this to say that very recently, Paddy bought Wheelers and as of Saint Patrick’s Day it became Paddy’s: An Irish Public House.
As I was saying, we get there about eight, and it’s already packed. Paddy and Bill have a bit of a following, and it seemed that the lot of them had shown up and shown up early. Our plan was to stay for a hello,-how’s-your-father? with Paddy or Bill or both and move on to another pseudo-Irish bar. By the time our first beers were half gone, the place reached capacity and the line for admittance was well into the parking lot. It occurred to us that if there was a hotspot tonight, we had found it.
So we drank and sang and met new and interesting people, many of whom I will probably have to re-introduce myself to at another time because I’m certain their memories were a bit foggy in the following morn. The whom, the how, and the details of the rest of the evening are of little relevance; if you truly are interested, faithful reader, you will buy my book when there is enough interest for me to actually write one. But as such, I did return to Paddy’s last night to have a more formal congratulations with him and Bill, for while they do play on Tuesdays, it is hardly the crowd that presents itself on a Saturday. I sat and drank a pint, enjoyed a more formal set of jigs and reels, and set my mind to wander.
This is more of what I would like to discuss - my thoughts that I had had just then. I had had them before, but I allowed myself to expand upon them as it deals with a topic that I have great interest in. I feel that while this topic is of great interest to this country, I do not think that it is being approached in a manner that is either civil or American. As a jumping off point I would like to point out first and foremost, Bill Ayerbe is Latino.
As Paddy took leave of the stage, Bill picked up his guitar and played a few mariachi-style songs, and I thought to myself of the dichotomy of what was actually happening here, both artistically and metaphorically on that stage. Here was a Irishman playing along side a man of Latin decent. So you all may follow, I’m looking at this historically, starting with the Irish immigration around the mid-1800s. In short, they were unwanted, considered non-Americans by many of the time, but the Irish traditions have become such a way of life so much so that not only do we celebrate Irish specific holidays, but we also incorporate so many Irish customs, folk-lore, and societal trappings within our day-to-day life that it is almost as intertwined as the subtle British and French influences left over from our countries conception.
Compare this to, what I call, The Immigration Situation. What is going on right now in our country with the influx of Mexicans through our boardera is so similar to the Irish Immigration it is staggering. The toll that these immigrants are taking on our cities, labor market, illegals verses legals, customs clashes, religion, the transplanting of old clan or family feuds; these are parallels that I cannot believe that I am the only one seeing.
I am not a historian or political soothsayer nor am I am social worker or one who even lives in town laden with immigrants. I do not pretend to think or know if the incursion of these foreigners is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in some sort of biblical sense of the word. What I do know is this country once absorbed a culture that now helps define it, and it appears that to be doing it again in the same awkward and resisting manner. Many Americans fear that our political system may be over-run by Mexican immigrants and that they may pervert it to their end. Others foresee us being bred out of the political majority in our lifetime. Maybe so. But it has all happened before. People with some level of Irish decent are the current majority in this country, and guess what? The white man seems to run the show, and has been that way for a few years now. Things turned out fine then, and they will again.
Or will they? Times are different now, and it’s not a matter of this immigration happening, but rather how we as a country are handling it. I’ve already stated that I think that politically we are handling it wrong, but with all due respect to the administration, the parallels between then and now are again similar. Really, I would not expect anything different. However; what is different is our society. The Latin immigrants are coming to this country with a community, just as the Irish did. We, Americans, have no such community any longer. We are only a loose assortments of citizens with a host of different ideals, goals, and income classes… and that part is fine! That’s what makes us America! But what we lack is that while we still believe in Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness; for the first time, we as a country have nearly come to a consensus that it does not matter what morals, levels of integrity, patriotism, or brotherhood we tread upon to reach each of our individual desired endstates. With the exception of national sporting events, we do not champion the underdog any longer, rather we step upon his head on our vain way to the top, and at times, even if they happen to be a friend. With such fierce competition within our own boarders, yes American is as strong as ever, but never has see been as weakly held together.
Ask yourself this: if the money in your life stopped, would you continue to do what you do; stay in the town you currently live in and try to make it work anyway; feel that you could fall back on your friends and neighbors; and wake up every morning in hardship and still lay down at night with a proud and clear mind, thanking God (or whomever) for the day? These immigrants do. And if we do not, nay, cannot do these things, they will overtake us and what we consider to be “our American society”. Personally, I think it may be a cleansing that this country needs.
Regardless, I wonder if someday when I am eighty years old, the kids all be calling into work with tequila hangovers and fake commercal sombreros the day after Cinco De Mayo.
