Apparently, It's Not Easy Being Green

Walking around town today, I was surprised just how many people made an effort to wear green.  I didn't personally.  No, not as some sort of statement, but because if you're not Irish, nor do you drink, St. Patrick's Day doesn't impact on your life that much. 

Most of these people were making a special effort to wear green, since they were clearly straining the capabilities or their wardrobes to fit in.  I'm not sure why - the bars will serve you no matter what colour you're wearing.  Besides, the Irish flag has two more colours in it.  Why not wear orange and white and then act all superior?

Here are some clumsy efforts at St. Patty's wear, all of which I saw today:

• Teal
• Day-glo yellowy-green that seemed to be left over from 1990.
• A store that moved the only green items of clothing to the front window, which turned out to be cheap bathrobes.
• A green shirt which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a Brazil shirt.

On that last note, bonus marks to the guy who was inexplicably wearing a Laos T-shirt.  Though he appeared to be both South-East Asian and rather confused, so I'm assuming that wasn't an ironic statement.  Speaking of which, imagine how bizarre this must seem to a new immigrant who sets up a restaurant based on their culture.  One Saturday, no one comes in, and you can't explain why.

Anyway, I was going to post a big rant about the phrase "luck of the Irish,"  since they don't seem to be particularly lucky people, so I'd just as soon have the luck of the Belgians, say.  But Mental_Floss has managed to explain how the phrase really came to be.