* Tobester
22/09/2009
Irish Goodbye
Irish goodbye is a slang term with its origins in the Irish-American neighborhoods of New York City and Boston. The term refers to the practice of inconspicuously leaving a place where one has gathered with friends (usually for quite some time) without ever formally announcing that one is leaving. Note that an Irish goodbye requires a conscious decision by the person to leave without bidding au revoir. It is a decision undertaken not for any emotional reasons, but solely as a matter of convenience. The Irish goodbye allows a person to disappear from a function with the utmost expediency without spending extra time on “thank-yous” etc.
Raise your hand if you’ve done this lately…
In DC I was king of the Irish Goodbye. Once Mike Menelli brought me to some awful merengue/salsa dancing club in Adam’s Morgan and the music was way too loud and Mike danced with his girl while leaving me sitting with her friend who I wasn’t interested in and couldn’t hear, so I got up to hit the bathroom and slipped right out the door. It felt very satisfying.
Irish Goodbyes are much harder in LA, because you can’t just roll out of a joint and hop on the subway to get home. Usually at an event you’re either the driver or rode with someone, so you’re usually trapped, and an Irish Goodbye is tough.
One time though, I pulled off a beaut. A bunch of my friends who lived in Hollywood picked me up on my side of town to do something, and after whatever we were doing, they were going to a pool party in the Hills. I really, really didn’t want to go, but when I protested and asked to be dropped off at home (we drove right past my street), I was denied, and forced to head to Hollywood with them. They were all changing into their party clothes and I slipped out the apartment door, down the hall and out onto Hollywood Blvd. I had no clue how I’d get home, figured I’d cab it. Then, I called Spencer and found out he was nearby at the I/O watching a comedy show and having a beer. Score.
Oh yeah, and I totally Irish Goodbye’d my own “birthday celebration” (I hadn’t planned or asked for it, and was already drunk by the time I arrived, so it’s not as bad as it sounds) and walked home from Edendale alone only to find the next day that single men walking through my neighborhood were getting beaten to a pulp as some kind of Avenues gang initation. I could have gotten assaulted. Dangerous Irish Goodbye!
i totally remember you being the best Irish Goodbyer
Text posted at 22:02
