in wetherspoons yesterday

[bobbyshinton 59]

Having a drink marking St Georges day. No flags or owt up when I asked the manager why they make a thing of other saints days he said they did not want to encourage racists. FFS

[Dr Gloom 21965]

Sad really isn't it that the BNP wankers have hijacked the flag to the extent that normal people can't be openly patriotic for fear of being seen as racist. If I see a flag of st George hung in someone's window, I automatically assume they're a wrong un. That's not right. You don't get this sort of fear of patriotism in Scotland or Wales

[LeazesMag 0]

Having a drink marking St Georges day. No flags or owt up when I asked the manager why they make a thing of other saints days he said they did not want to encourage racists. FFS

 

sad. Which Wetherspoons was that ?

[manc-mag 1]

I'll tell you what would make a difference like. Proper Union flags rather than the £2.99 JJB ones. Get a proper flag and put it on a proper pole if it's something to be shown respect. Draping tatty JJB shit everywhere looks horrendous visually and drags the whole thing down even further. Not that I agree with everything about the USA's slavish flag flying (far from it) but the ceremonial aspect of it invariably elevates it above our 'pub curtain' approach. You'd be arrested in the States for our attitude to flags.

[Ayatollah Hermione 13894]

I'll tell you what would make a difference like. Proper Union flags rather than the £2.99 JJB ones. Get a proper flag and put it on a proper pole if it's something to be shown respect. Draping tatty JJB shit everywhere looks horrendous visually and drags the whole thing down even further.

 

Agreed, saw someone with two of those tatty car flags you see around Euro/World Cup time on their motor yesterday and I just thought "if you're going to celebrate, at least do it in a half-decent fashion"

 

FWIW, I had chilli to celebrate our multi-cultural society. It was smashing.

[catmag 337]

A friend of mine has got a little girl who goes to an English, Catholic school. Apparently the kids were all encouraged to dress up and had a party for St Patrick's day but they had nothing at all yesterday.

[Ayatollah Hermione 13894]

That irks me as well. I don't have a problem with St. Patrick's Day but the idea that I should don a daft hat and go out and get pissed because Guiness have done a masterful job of associating it with their brand is annoying. I bet the town was dead last night whereas it was heaving on St. Patrick's.

[PaddockLad 17290]

The only country that used to make anything of saints days was the US where immigrants used them as a tie to the "old country" eg St Pats day for the Irish and although not a saint, Columbus day for the Italians. Nowhere else did it, its a fuckin fallacy that Scots in any way celebrate St Andrews day and I doubt if many know when it us. Its Burns Night they go for, the Welsh have rugby in the south and in the north they celebrate their ancient culture every day by speaking their language that has survived and endured despite attempts to wipe it out by two of the most powerful empires the world has seen. In Ireland a day which rightly or wrongly was deeply religious has been hijacked by Guinness so the can flog more product. So don't feel too down about not being able to celebrate St Georges day, its a historical irrelevence anyway.

[donaldstott 0]

That irks me as well. I don't have a problem with St. Patrick's Day but the idea that I should don a daft hat and go out and get pissed because Guiness have done a masterful job of associating it with their brand is annoying. I bet the town was dead last night whereas it was heaving on St. Patrick's.

 

There are few who have tried and failed to similarly attach themselves to St. George's Day, but there isn't really a national beer in England. They all seem to be either Southern or Northern.

 

The idea of going out and getting smashed on Black Sheep in the name of England would appeal to me.