Even when I was younger, I didn’t go out on St. Paddy’s. It is ridiculous. I lost my accent fairly quickly but I cherish my heritage and childhood in Cork. I realize that Ireland is a vastly different country and much improved. It is also obvious that the Irish have a collective chip on the their shoulders about other countries. Whenever my family or friends come here they constantly compare and criticize America and it is a little churlish. JT is well able to banter and not nearly as precious as most on here, just take a look at his post history. I hate the idea of American Exceptionalism but it is also silly to paint the
IS as a backward monolith of conservatism. It is a large country that varies tremendously by region and it has the best university system and most developed research community in the world. It has also kept Russia in check for the last 70 years. A few American inventions for some light reading:
https://blog.talk.edu/culture-exchange/american-inventions-changed-nation/