I once was talking to a Irish Catholic Nun and in our conversation I happened to use the phrase St. Pattys Day. In her sweet little Nun voice she said to me Referring to Saint Patrick as St. Patty to an Irish Catholic is the same as using the N word when talking about an African-American. I dont know if its as offensive to Irish Protestants as it is to Irish Catholics to say Saint Patty or not. She said the British soldiers in Northern Ireland referred to the Irish as Patties. Since then I have been mindful not to say Saint Pattys Day. Doesnt cost me any more effort to say Saint Patrick than to say Saint Patty and I dont run the risk of saying something that will offend yet another ethnic group. I thought about going on to list ALL of the racial and ethnic slurs and insults that I can think of and maybe even said myself at one time or another but I realized to do so would be insensitive and not in keeping with my ideals of cultural diversity. But darn! Arent there any groups of race, creed, color or place of origin that I can put down? Some click of people who can be the butt of all the ethnic jokes? Oh wait, of course, there are always Texans!
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 16:09:03 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015