top o' the mornin'®

[earendel]

Begorrah to you all on this fine St. Patrick's Day. Suren everyone thinks that elves and leprechauns are kindred spirits, but 'tis not the case. Leprechauns are more like dwarves - always worryin' about their gold, while elves are concerned with loftier things.

Yesterday evening the commuters on my bus route were treated to a stand-up comedy routine from someone who wasn't remotely funny. One stop after I boarded a man, somewhat grizzled in appearance, got on and began a series of one-liners drawn mostly from Jeff Foxworthy's "you might be a redneck" routine. His voice was piercing, cutting through my headphones and the music to which I was listening. He seemed oblivious to the other passengers' discomfiture at listening to him; finally the bus driver had to stop and ask the man to sit down and be quiet. He did so, but got off at the next stop. I wondered if I might have been the recipient of some sort of "performance art" piece.

On a different topic, one sign of the changing demographic in our office is an e-mail message that was sent out to the office yesterday. It was an invitation to gather after work at a venue known as "Fourth Street Live", a Cordish property that has several restaurants, in order to enjoy "green beer or green tea" in preparation for St. Patrick's Day. A few years ago such an invitation wouldn't have been sent because everyone was "of an age", with children and other responsibilities. About half our office now, however, is composed of twenty- and thirty-somethings unfettered by family responsibilities. Truly a sign of changing times.

[MarleysGh0st]

Sounds like that bus passenger started celebrating St. Patrick's Day a day early!

[gsabc]

Sounds like that bus passenger started celebrating St. Patrick's Day a day early!

More likely he celebrates all year.

[SportsFan68]

. . .

Yesterday evening the commuters on my bus route were treated to a stand-up comedy routine from someone who wasn't remotely funny.

. . .

Maybe there was something hovering around the 38th parallel or so last evening. About the same time Ear would have been on the bus, one of the students in the class I'm taking delivered a five-minute rant on the inaccuracies of what's in American history textbooks. Not that he was so wrong in his facts, just that the rant was rambling and disjointed.

[Jeemie]

Sounds like that bus passenger started celebrating St. Patrick's Day a day early!

Maybe he belongs to this group:

http://improveverywhere.com/

[ulysses5019]

This story reminds about the time I lived in Ireland and was staying outside Dublin in the Wicklow Hills. It was a long bus ride through the country and at least twice a gentleman got on and regaled us with stories and jokes. He was well into his cups as they say but he was very entertaining. I wish I had had a tape recorder or video camera. Of course I also hitched a ride with a lorry driver near a Gaeltacht (Irish speaking district) who told me stories in Gaelic for over an hour. So it's true, the Irish appreciate a good speaker but treasure a good (though captive) listener.