The Luck o' the Irish

Got one of those chain-forward things that promises you wealth, health and good luck if only you will forward it to multiple people or death and dismemberment if not. For a few seconds I was not sure if it was from a friend or the IRS.

Of course, my first clue it was from a friend should have been the little dancing leprechaun and the "Luck o the Irish" type greeting...which got me to thinking. How, exactly, did the Irish come to be considered lucky?

When you get right down to it, you are calling "lucky" a country that had their independence ripped from them by England...a country so wimpy in military terms that 13 undermanned, outgunned colonies knocked them out twice inside of 40 years, that could not hold onto India, Africa, or any other colony. What is lucky about that?

Or maybe the luck comes from their diet. They get green beer and potato famines...okay, moving on.

Maybe they are lucky because it is so peaceful there...oh, wait a second...catholics, protestants, hundreds of years of internal strife and terro attacks...nope, that doesn't sound too lucky either.

Luck of the Irish indeed. When I think being drunk, homeless and starving...then I guess I will have the luck of the Irish.