St. Patrick’s Day. Go Away, Fake News. Gaylord Goes Off. Top of Mind Topics. Pure Talent.
Quote of the Day:
Saint Patrick was a gentleman
Who through strategy and stealth
Drove all the snakes from Ireland
Here’s a drinkee to his health!
But not too many drinkees
Lest we lose ourselves and then…
Forget the good Saint Patrick
And see them snakes again! -Unknown Author
Has there been a better excuse to celebrate than St. Patrick’s Day? No matter your race or religion or your politics, the celebration involves parades, festivals, music, green attire, and usually a bit of drinking. Officially, the day commemorates Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, and the day celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish people. Here are a few tidbits concerning St. Patrick’s Day:
- The first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place not in Ireland but in America on March 17, 1601 in a Spanish colony now referred to as St. Augustine, Florida.
- New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is the world’s largest parade with approximately 155,000 participants.
- Classic Irish dishes include corned beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread, Shepard’s Pie, and creamy mashed potatoes called Colcannon.
- When toasting, the Irish do not say ‘cheers.’ They say ‘Slainte.’
- Savannah, Georgia, San Antonio, Texas, Indianapolis, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois embrace St. Patty’s Day by dyeing their rivers green.
The Chicago River on Saturday afternoon, March 17, 2024
If you have not been to Ireland, go. While Dublin can be too jampacked with tourists, the coastal areas, the small towns, and their pubs are fantastic. While most of us enjoy March 17th every year, there are some with a difference of opinion: 🙂
- We do not have time for rumors, gossip, or false news. Rumors have a broad reach, with viral talk that has no reliable source to back it up. While some rumors can relate to positive things (an award or promotion), they often lead to gossip when the rumors, which are unconfirmed pieces of information, are passed along to others, then becoming fake news. All of this usually riles up emotion which sometimes can be long-lasting. A St. Patrick’s Day toast for rumors, gossip, and fake news to disappear from our everyday lives.
“Never repeat a rumor before you have verified it. And if it is true, hold your tongue all the more.” – Selma Lagerlöf, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
- There is a cliche: ‘You can’t have it both ways.’ Airlines are cracking down on carry-on bags as they continue to find ways to grow their top-line revenue, especially after the downturn in air travel due to Covid-19 and its variants. One of those revenue streams is derived from checked bag fees, with many airlines increasing those fees over the last year. Obviously, this leads to many passengers using carry-on bags to forego the cost of checking bags. As recently as two weeks ago, Delta Air Lines, following in the footsteps of their competitors, raised their fee for checked bags by 17%. Delta Air Lines takes in more than $1 billion annually in checked-bag fees, with only American and United taking in more. If airlines continue to raise their baggage fees, they will need to deal with more people carrying on their bags and other items. Note: Delta reported a 2023 profit of $4.6 billion. There must be a way to find a happy medium with customers.
A few takeaways for Mid-March 2024:
- We end this week with a ‘Pure Talent’ take. The King of Opera and the Godfather of Soul embracing one another in a masterful performance. Two legends combining soul and passion. Who would have thought?