I will celebrate the day by going to a job interview, taking my girlfriend out to lunch, and playing cards with my friends. I probably won't bother drinking anything.

GPFontaine wrote:

Wikipedia wrote: Saint Patrick's Day (Irish: Lá ’le Pádraig or Lá Fhéile Pádraig), colloquially St. Paddy's Day or Paddy's Day, is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick (circa AD 385–461), one of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on March 17. Addition: Why is this holiday celebrated? What makes St. Patrick so wonderful and why does he represent a race rather than a religion?

This represents a race rather than a religion because it's the patron saint of Ireland. That should be really obvious. As for why it's celebrated? Simple (And I would think obvious as well):
There were a LOT of early Irish settlers in America. They would have celebrated this day to remember their Irish heritage, and everyone around them would have celebrated it with them because it's an excuse to get completely shitfaced.

GPFontaine wrote:

But isn't a Saint a Christian term? I guess I don't understand why they didn't just make a national Irish day or Irish Independence Day. Well... I guess it is because they had a holiday prior to their independence... hmm... I guess I'll just have to accept Syd's reasoning that there is no answer.

But there is an answer, you're just ignoring it. Yes, saint is a Christian term, big deal. Considering there's been war in Ireland since...I dunno, the same time war in the middle east started, they probably don't have much of an independence day to celebrate, at least not one they can agree on. The patron saint of Ireland is something they can agree on and drink to, and people are always eager for "legitimate" reasons to drink themselves into a coma.

Syd Lexia wrote:

There's no easy answer. Why is St. Valentine's Day widely celebrated?

Because of seasonal depression, or whatever it's called. St. Valentine's Day (Which you'll also note is normally celebrated without the word Saint in front of it) was pushed as a major holiday because it's in the middle of winter and they hoped it would keep people from killing themselves due to the months of grey, gloomy, freezing weather.

Syd Lexia wrote:

Why is Christmas one of the few days that major retailers shutter their doors?

Because compared to much of the world, America is actually a very religious country, despite what the secular progressives efforts thus far. Christmas, Easter, Palm Sunday, and Ash Wednesday and the 4 most important holy days of obligation (In that order, really). Before opening on Christmas would have been pointless anyway as there would be no customers and it would be very, very hard to actually get employees to come in. Though we're less religious now than when the country was founded, the majority of Americans still celebrate Christmas and opening your doors would not only be fruitless, but a huge faux pas and PR nightmare.

Syd Lexia wrote:

Why isn't Saint Joseph's Day (March 19), which is a big deal in the North End and other Italian communities, widely celebrated?

Because the Italians aren't associated with excessive drinking the way the Irish are, so there's no reason for non-Italians to embrace it the way they embrace Saint Patrick's Day.

Syd Lexia wrote:

We could go on for hours about sociological reasons, but basically, some holidays catch on an others don't.

There's more to it than that and you know it. Leaving things as "There's no real answer" is dumb.