I’ve been wearing green all week.
For those of you who grew up outside the Northeast, this might explain why.
Connecticut has some of the highest percentages of Irish and Italians in America. This means that even if you don’t fall into one of those ethnic groups, for all intensive purposes you might as well…
And, for the record, I never heard of pinching someone not wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day until I met people in college who’d grown up elsewhere. Jenn, Debby, or Grey Kitten — Have you ever had someone pinch you in Connecticut if you forgot to dress up? Anyone else from the Northeast want to weigh in?
For those far from green-wearing brethren this season, I offer you this clip of “Early Riser,” from Robbie O’Connell. Robbie is a nephew of the famed Clancy Brothers, with whom he used to tour. We knew him from our summer vacations camping in Cape Cod. You never had such good sing-alongs around the campfire…
(If you like what you hear, you can download the album from iTunes.)
I am both Irish AND Italian! What a neat map. If I only had more green clothing. Of course, Bloomfield is less than 10% Irish
I’ve never heard of the pinch thing either – strange.
Comment by Jenn 03.15.07 @ 5:20 amNo, I’ve never heard of pinching someone based on the color of their clothing. And if you did pinch someone in East Hartford (as with any unsolicited personal contact) they would first check to see that they still had their wallet; it would never occur to them that their clothing was not green.
Comment by Grey Kitten 03.15.07 @ 12:29 pmOddly enough, the guy I’m sharing an office with for the next few weeks was originally from NY and he had heard of the pinching thing.
Comment by Grey Kitten 03.15.07 @ 3:05 pmI wonder if it’s that Connecticut has such a dominant population of people who are of Irish descent. Ejbro, who grew up in NYC (with its large Irish population), says that he’s never heard of it, but my coworker Sarah had and she grew up in Ithaca.
Comment by soe 03.15.07 @ 3:21 pmI grew up in middle CT, not rural, but not the big cities either. 🙂 I never heard of the pinching tradition before I read it on your blog. But then, my family’s all Italian. 🙂
Comment by Debby 03.16.07 @ 2:59 pmYup – I grew up outside of Boston, and people would pinch those not wearing green on St Paddy’s all the time (grin). and if you wear green, you get kissed!
Comment by Teyani 03.17.07 @ 2:52 pm