In all of the hubbub surrounding that OTHER holiday, what with all the facebook statuses (stati?) popping up at 8am displaying half-downed pints of Guinness and jackasses who wouldn't know a shamrock from a four-leaf clover, I wanted to make sure to wish everyone the best on ANOTHER holiday:
Happy Evacuation Day!
I always forget how much I love living in a city that literally just makes up municipal holidays in order to give everyone an opportunity to cut work and day drink. As B drove me to work this morning, I was amazed at how the neighborhood I work in, which is one of the busiest in the city, seemed empty, and joked about how it must be because it's gorgeous out (almost 50!!) and St. Paddy's Day. B then reminded me:
"It's also Evacuation Day!"
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For those of you not from this bastion of Irish pride known as Boston, you're probably wondering what the hell Evacuation Day is and why we can pahk ah cahs* without fear of retribution from the evil, evil Transit Police/Meter Maids/Men. According to Wikipedia:
March 17 is Evacuation Day, a holiday observed in Suffolk County (which includes the city of Boston) and also by the public schools in Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts.The holiday commemorates the evacuation of British forces from the city of Boston following the Siege of Boston, early in the American Revolutionary War. Schools and government offices (including some Massachusetts state government offices located in Suffolk County) are closed. If March 17 falls on a weekend, schools and government offices are closed on the following Monday in observance. It is the same day as Saint Patrick's Day, a coincidence that played a role in the establishment of the holiday.
Basically, 110 years ago, a bunch of old dudes up on Beacon Hill were tired of debating the merit of cobblestone vs. dirt roads and really wanted to go join their peeps celebrating the the wearing o' the green with a pint at the local pub. Rather than using the non-secular St. Patrick's Day as a reason to skip out and go party, they found an obscure historical event that fell on the same day and gave everyone the day off. Want proof? The document signing the holiday into law was signed not only in black, but green ink.
Other made-up Bostonian holidays:
- Truck Day (in which we go to Fenway Park to celebrate the equipment [not the players] leaving for Ft. Meyers).
- Opening Day (in which we mob the bars outside of Fenway and curse the Yankees, no matter who the Sox are playing)
- Patriots' Day (My personal favorite, in which we line the streets with solo cups in our hands and Franzia in our purse and high-five fit, responsible people as they run 26.2 miles. The ideal places to do so are Heartbreak Hill at Boston College and Kenmore Sq. at the 1 mile to go marker.)
Sadly, last May, the Legislature bowed to public opinion and de-certified both Evacuation Day and Bunker Hill Day, citing concerns about "wasted tax dollars" and "big government excess." Personally, I'd rather pay a little extra in tax to be able to park my car on the street for longer than two hours at a time in a part of town in which I do not reside, but no one seems to take my opinion into account in these matters.
Now that that's out of the way, before I forget:
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
*Sidenote: Despite what my Boston brethren might want you to believe, that accent isn't solely made up for movies like The Fighter, The Town and The Departed... I don't know where those people decrying "we don't sound like that!" hang out, but they've clearly never met anyone from Charlestown, Dorchester or parts of Southie [or Fall River for that matter, but that's another issue]. No one, however, who has ever called this city home would be caught referring to it as "Beantown," unless they wanted to be caught dead.
