So, yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day. The one day in the year where a large number of people claim to be Irish. Here in the United States, almost everyone in the country claims to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.

For me, if you claim to be anything, Irish, English, German, or whatever you have to have at least been born there and raised in the culture. When someone tells me ” I am Irish,” my response is to ask which part of Ireland you are from and how long have you been in the United States. Of course, I get the reply that they were not actually born in Ireland, but that their ancestors came from Ireland.

I don’t think Americans really understand that when they say they are “Irish” or “English” that they really make themselves look stupid to people who really do come from those places. I once had a teacher at the first high school I worked at try and tell me he was English and tried to give me a lecture on the difference between being “Scottish” (a person), and “Scotch” (whiskey drink). Believe me, I don’t need lectures from other people about my own British culture and I don’t need idiots claiming they are English, Irish, or whatever. They should be happy that they are American.