Every March 17, the world honors Ireland’s patron saint with parades, green attire and cultural traditions, including a painful one — pinching.
The St. Patrick’s Day pinch is uniquely American. According to Irish-American folklore, wearing green makes you invisible to leprechauns, who pinch anyone they can see. Anyone not wearing green is pinched as a punishment.
Junior Shaun Walls fell prey to this tradition early in the morning. “I got pinched 10 times before 11 a.m.,” he said. “It’s stupid. I don’t own green, and I’m not Irish.”
Walls was not alone in the pinching. Junior Mollie Brem said that she forgot to wear green. “I would’ve remembered to wear green if there was more talk and spirit about it in school,” she said. She said that in elementary school, there was more spirit for St. Patrick’s Day. “I remember in elementary school when we would celebrate,” she said. “It was fun.”
Junior Penda Gassama also said that the high school should lean into St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. “Green is a bright color, and it would brighten people’s days if there were some decorations,” she said.
Junior Delaney Willis said that there shouldn’t be school on St. Patrick’s Day. “It’s a holiday. It’s supposed to be fun,” she said. “It’s a celebration, and people skip school to go to the parade anyway,” she said. “I’d love to go, but I have school.”
Cleveland held its 184th St. Patrick’s Day parade downtown. The parade started at 1:04 p.m. at E. 18th and Superior Avenue and went down to Public Square. According to Fox News Cleveland, the theme of this year’s parade is a celebration of 250 years of Irish and Irish-American contributions to the land of the free, since the United States will celebrate its 250th birthday this summer.
Zora Kansal, a sophomore, said that she planned to go to the parade today, but decided the conditions were not right. “If the weather was nice, I’d go,” she said.
Junior Chloe Peebles said that she appreciates the festivities around St. Patrick’s Day because “Irish people are amazing.” She said that she doesn’t mind getting pinched. “It just happens to be a tradition. I can’t get mad, because I forgot to wear green. It’s my fault,” she said.
Gassama said that the real tradition isn’t green attire or pinching — it’s the shared community. Said Gassama, “I think if we just had more spirit on general holidays, it would bring us all together.”
