Ben Walsh brought it to our attention today regarding our St. Patrick's Day coverage in the paper this week. As Mr. Walsh delicately put it:
Well, it looks like you're part of the stupid "Irish car bomb and corned beef" school of tiresome, clichéd paddywhackery anyway, but still, for fuck's sake your name is Caitlin Donohue, make an effort?
It's also "Eire", not "Erie", if you must.<!--break-->
Language, mine countryperson! After all, three generations in an ethnically vanilla land will produce cultural amnesia in the best of us! More constructively, Walsh supplied the address of a website that thoroughly addresses the issue, which stems from the holiday's etymology: “Paddy is derived from the Irish, Pádraig, hence those mysterious, emerald 'd's'.”
So I'm sorry for all the "t" time. I contacted the Irish Herald's Olivia Canniffe to apologize for running our cultural heritage through the dirt and she resolved to consult an expert on the matter. In the meantime, she offered this thought to Mr. Walsh: "I hope this customer can go out and enjoy all the St Patrick's Day celebrations that SF has to offer this year. We are lucky to have such a wide selection of activities for us all to enjoy here in our city."
The website also live streams Twitter mentions by “St. Paddy's” saints and “St. Patty's ” eejits. So that we can make fun of them, of course. Cuz that's what the paDDies from the EIRE do. Now back to my car bombs and corned beef.