He said/She said: St. Patty’s Day Pinching

Photo Credit: Jess Cleveland

Sophomore Taylor Dunavant makes her feelings clear about pinching while Sophomore Billy Milem tries to sneak a pinch.

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Taylor Dunavant and Billy Milem
March 12, 2010
Filed under Opinion & Editorial

She said:

Are you one of those people? You know the obnoxious ones who even dye their hair green for St. Patrick’s Day?  The Leprechaun Nazi’s who pinch the rest of us black and blue for not being as enthused?   Don’t get me wrong.  I like St. Patrick’s Day.  I just don’t think that celebrating a holiday should involve physical pain.  Pinching hurts people!

I am all for showing appreciation for a holiday that brings a grin to you face and gives you tingles in your tummy. If you feel the need to be decked out in green while wearing a matching green wig, then by all means, go with it. When people have the nerve to grab a piece of my skin and squeeze it in a very  uncomfortable manner, it has passed enthusiasm and come to just being mean. If pinching is all you look forward to when St. Patrick’s Day comes around, then you need to rethink your reasons for celebrating this holiday.

Not only is pinching painful and unnecessary, it’s rude. Who wants to walk down the hall and randomly be pinched for not following the dress code? It’s a ridiculous tradition that shouldn’t be practiced. I mean, give a shamrock or something, just don’t pinch. It becomes very aggravating very quickly, by the end of the day I’m ready to wear a sign that says: Do Not Touch!

Feel free to flaunt your St. Patty’s Day spirit. Wear a ridiculous emerald green outfit and dye your facial hair red. Pass out some four leaf clovers. Have a party! Just don’t pinch.

He said:

It’s Saint Patrick’s Day! Prepare for pinches. Saint Patrick’s Day pinching is a harmless tradition that is getting some unnecessary hate. It’s perfectly acceptable to get a pinch for forgetting to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, after all we have been doing this every year and I don’t think it would kill you to put on a green wristband or socks. The real harm on St Patrick’s Day is the guy who is 1/64^th Irish and feels the need to wear blinding amounts of green and talk with an Irish accent all day.

There are plenty of Holiday traditions that are completely pointless (read my Valentine’s Day article) and pinching isn’t one of them. Say what you will but it’s always fun to sneak up on an unsuspecting greenless friend and pinch them as hard as you can. It’s just one of those things that have come to be expected over the years. On the Fourth of July we blow stuff up, on Halloween we accost people for candy and on Saint Patrick’s Day, we pinch.

I’m not advocating taking a baseball bat to someone’s kneecaps for forgetting their green shoelaces but a little pinch should be expected for your carelessness. Even if you don’t own anything green I’m sure you could duct tape a clover to your shirt or something. Do what you have to do, just don’t forget the green or I might have to pay you a visit.