Flying - Free Fun: Unpacking St. Patrick’s Day in America!"

on this lively episode, we dive into the quirks and charms of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in America, particularly why it’s often marked on a Saturday! Join us as we explore the fun traditions, unexpected behaviors, and colorful parades that make this holiday a favorite among many, regardless of their Irish heritage. 

We also tackle the amusing phenomenon of people claiming they aren’t “Flurry” (fear of flying) as they enthusiastically jet off to celebrate in style. From green beer to outlandish outfits, nothing is off-limits as we share our own hilarious anecdotes and listener stories about what it really means to get into the spirit of the season. Get ready for plenty of laughs, good vibes, and a unique twist on the St. Patrick’s Day

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to Gotta Get Said. Here's your host, Matt Cucko. What's happening, guys, and welcome to another episode of Gotta Get Said on this Tuesday, March 17th, 2026. What's going on, everybody? How are we doing? A little windy up here in the northeast, if that's where you're uh listening from. Yesterday I got woken up in the middle of the night. It was like 12.15 at night, and I got woken up by a tornado. It felt like it. It wasn't, but it felt like it. I left a window a little cracked. I was getting hit with mist. I heard things dangling outside, metal screeching. It was scary stuff, man. It was scary stuff last night. The weather was intense. Hopefully, this is it though, right? I feel like this is my third week saying this. Like, hopefully this is it though, right? Who knows? Who knows? Whenever I think it's over, it's always like the next week. It's like, you heard we're getting a foot on Wednesday. It's like, what? It's almost April. It's almost April. Right? I don't know. Scary stuff this weather. Scary stuff this weather. But I hope you guys are all doing well. I hope you guys are happy. Hope you guys are happy. I can't, I can never get this one right. Happy, healthy, and I don't know the third age because I don't think there is one, but there needs to be one. But whatever. Hope you're happy and healthy. More healthy than happy. But happy makes you healthy, right? I'm a poet and I didn't even know it. I love when people say stupid shit like that. But anyways, guys, what do you want to get into? Huh? It's been a crazy week, right? We're at war. That's always fun, right? War is great, right? Yeah. Whatever. Uh probably shouldn't even have spoken on that because I had no intentions on, but it's it's all I see on the TV. So it's the it's the week that was, you know what I mean? It popped right in my peripheral. I couldn't help it. But what do you want to talk about? Today's St. Patrick's Day. I'm not really, you know, I don't really have much to say about St. Patrick's Day. I don't have a problem with St. Patrick's Day. I don't necessarily give a shit either. I'm not a huge drinker. And obviously it's a drinking holiday. It just is what it is. I know some people get offended when you say that, and I don't, it just is what it is. Like, isn't it openly a drinking holiday? Isn't it openly a drinking holiday? Does that make me a bad guy for assuming that St. Patrick's Day is a drinking holiday? I think it's more than fair to say. I think that's more than a fair statement. And I'm the perfect example because I genuinely don't mean any ill will towards it. If it wasn't a drinking holiday, I wouldn't say it. But, you know, America's kind of Americanized it to be a drinking holiday, which is totally fine. Which is totally fine. I'm not a huge drinker, so I don't really give a fuck about it. I'm not Irish, so I can't have that, you know, relation with it. Um, there's just a lot of reasons that I don't, I'm not emotionally invested in St. Patrick's Day. Not being Irish, not being a drinker, not liking parades. I'm having an issue with parades. I don't love parades. Because like going to a parade, yeah, it's I like watching a parade on TV, sure. I'm not necessarily positive. I understand the point. But going to a parade, it's like, eh, I don't know. You're basically just asking me to travel to a place in public where a ton of people are, where I'm gonna have to stand next to a ton of complete strangers. A lot of them are gonna be drinking alcohol, I'm sure, because you know, to circle back to it being a drinking holiday, and just watch this like random like softball teams and like VFWs from local schmoggle places I don't know exist walk by and wave. Sure. Sure. This isn't an anti-parade thing, but like, you know, on the fly thinking about it, not really sure I understand the idea of parades, but whatever. You know, happy St. Patrick's Day for those who are celebrating the leprechaun and stuff. I have heard rumors, I don't know if this is true because I didn't look into it. I probably should have done some research, but I openly didn't. So for forgive me in advance. But like, I I I'm pretty sure this is true because I've heard it throughout the years from many different sources, if you will. But I don't know for a fact, I didn't like really look for a fact if it's true, but I'm pretty confident this is true. I've heard people in Ireland celebrate St. Patrick's Day very holy, because I get it, St. Patrick. I'm not naive. Like I get that there's a world that some people live in where St. Patrick's Day is the exact opposite of a drinking Irish buffoonery party. I I I'm not I'm not dumb. I get it. And I heard that people in Ireland actually celebrate it very religious, very uh, I don't know another word, but you get my point. Not drinking alcohol and going to parade. I heard people in Ireland celebrate it more that route than the route we do. It sounds like we Americanize St. Patrick's Day. Like I said, I'm not 110% sure if I'm not talking out of my ass on this one, but I have heard that spiel throughout the years of my life from many different people. Some people a little more trustworthy than others, but I like to believe that that's fairly true given all the information I've heard. All the information I heard was pretty consistent with what I just said. But yeah, apparently people um celebrate it very holy. It's a very holy time, St. Patrick's Day. But yeah, not us. Not us, guys, not us, not us. Green beer for us, am I right? Green beer for us. I love the I love the people that like super duper celebrate St. Patrick's Day and they like refuse to let it go. They're like 60, fat, big beard. Yeah, you got any green t-shirts, man. Woo! St. Patrick's Day, baby! Yeah. It's like, all right, buddy. I get it. It's an excuse that you can be a drunken buffoon and not get judged. Today's the day. Today's the day you can be a drunken buffoon and not get judged. Today's the day maybe they'll hold off on that inter intervention for you. And I respect that, man. You keep fighting the fight, you keep living that dream. That's your journey, and I respect that. But I don't know. Like I said, this rant made it sound like I hate St. Patrick's Day. I don't hate St. Patrick's Day. I really don't. It's just not like, you know, it doesn't, I don't hate F1 racing, but I don't care about F1 racing because it doesn't, it doesn't check my boxes. You know what I mean? I have no ill will towards F1 racing. I just can care less about F1 racing. That's kind of how it is with um St. Patrick's Day. You know, I don't I don't hate St. Patrick's Day. I just I don't I don't do anything that it entails, you know? All the things that are celebrated on St. Patrick's Day, I don't celebrate in my life. So it's like it's nothing personal. It's nothing personal. Chinese New Year just happened a couple of months ago. A lot of people really gave a shit about Chinese New Year. I didn't. I didn't hate Chinese New Year. I wasn't angry at the people that love Chinese New Year. It just wasn't my cup of tea, which is totally fine. Which is totally fine. So I'm not talking shit on St. Pastor's Day. I'm truly not. But what I am saying is I don't necessarily celebrate it a ton. That being said, I have toddlers. You know, they're wearing green today. You know, they believe in I guess leprechauns, right? Is that what that is? Leprechauns? I'm not really sure how I feel about my children believing in a leprechaun or a pot of gold being at the end of a rainbow. But I get judged if I say things like that. So I just nod and smile to the wifey. I'm just like, put him in green. Yeah. Oh, look at his hat. Little top hat. Yeah, okay. So whatever. Whatever. Anyways, that's St. Patrick's Day. I had to I I guess I had to touch it. I didn't necessarily care about touching it, but I guess I had to touch it because today literally is St. Patrick's Day. So, but can I make one rule? Could I make one little rule? Like I said, I didn't do my research on this before speaking. So maybe there's a really good reason that it does fall on the same day every year. But if there isn't like a crazy reason, it's because that's the day St. Patrick himself felt the if that's the answer, sure. I won't bother you. But if that's not the answer and there's no real answer why St. Patrick's Day doesn't fall on the same day every year, can we just put it on a Saturday? Right? Am I right, drunken buffoons that left the party on St. Patrick's Day? Come on, see, I'm on your side. This isn't a I told you I'm cool, I'm hip. Let's just put it on a Saturday. Let's just make St. Patrick's Day whatever Saturday is near March 17th. Is that fair? I feel like that's more than fair because like it's on a Tuesday? Come on, you can't put it on a Tuesday. And like all the towns have their parades on the Saturdays and Sundays upcoming and a little bit behind. And I get it. But like if you make it on a Saturday, it's awesome. Everyone will do their thing. Everyone who celebrates will super love to celebrate on a Saturday. Not a Tuesday. Come on, change it. And like I said, if there's a real reason of why it's the let's check. We're checking. Fuck it. We're doing it. We're doing it. We're doing it and doing it and doing it well. Doing it and doing it and doing it well. Doing it and doing it and doing it well. I represent Queen. She was raised out in Brooklyn. Let's look. Hello, Coo J shout out. I don't know what year that was, but before my time, quite frankly. Um St. Patrick's Day. Why does St. Let's see.

unknown 9:46

St.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

Patrick's Day falls on March 17th because it's traditionally associated with the death of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, who is believed to have died around 461 AD. The date later established as a few days earlier, 17th century, has since become a significant cultural holiday celebrated in Ireland among the Irish to bubba. The days of the St. Patrick's effort, Christianity in Ireland is okay, fair. Okay, alright. So there's a reason. There's a reason it falls on March 17th. I hear ya. 461 AD, sure. You know what I mean? Like, whatever. I'm not gonna. Alright, so there's a reason. Okay. I don't know. Whatever. Is it, you know, maybe we can change a reason? You know? You know what I mean? 461 AD is a long time ago, you know? I don't think the people celebrated and care about the efforts to spread Christianity in Ireland and it's marked by its various festivals, including parades and the wearing of green attire. You know what I'm saying? I don't think, I don't think that's the reason. You know what I mean? I don't think they know he died around 461 AD. The late Elizabeth established as a feast in the early 17th century. It's just become a significant country. I don't, you know what I mean? I don't think they know that. I don't think the people celebrating in America at the local pub down the street with a green-dyed beard necessarily knows that the deaths of St. Patrick, the painted saint of Ireland, who is believed to have died around 461 AD. I don't think they necessarily mix the two. You know, I don't think they know that one means the other, if that if you know, if that makes any sense. So maybe we could just move it to the Saturday for America, because like I don't really think we give a flying you know what about that. And if you do give a whying lot about that, good for you. Truly good for you, and we'll we'll save it. But if we had a vote and we went to all the parades and all the people celebrating St. Patrick's Day at the parades and at the bars, I don't know if the percent will be over 25 that know the reason why St. Patrick's Day falls on March 17th and only March 17th. That's all I'm saying. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm being a pessimist. Maybe we'll agree to disagree. Maybe, maybe, but I don't know. I have a hunch. I have a little bit of a hunch. But that's just my take on it. Whatever. What the fuck do I know, right? Truly though. What the fuck do I know? What the fuck do I know? Maybe these people really do know. Maybe these people really do care, but probab more probable than not, it's probably a no. You know what I mean? But that's okay. It's no big deal. Anyways, enough of the St. Patrick's Day slander. It's for the record. I love corned beef and cabbage. I love corn beef. I love cabbage! I might love cabbage more than corned beef. I love cabbage. Love it. It's a shame. Why does I gotta look it up I gotta look it up? Because I don't know the answer. Why is corn beef okay? Why is corned beef and cabbage traditional? That's a fair question. Corn beef and cabbage became a tradition in Irish American due to its economic grocery factory and blah blah blah blah blah. Corn beef itself has a long history in Europe, meats preserved. Okay, fine. So like Irish people ate it because they were poor. I get it. That's fair. That's fair. I kinda had a feeling I always hear the rumors like they call potatoes mix. Little potatoes were called mix, and that's why I always hear these theories, but um, that's fair. So it's a you know, it's an Irish American. Oh, so it sounds like people in Ireland don't eat corned beef and cabbage. That's fair. Paraflavorful. Okay, cool. Okay, no big deal. That's why. I had a feeling that was a white, but that's why. But I love corned beef and cabbage. So, like, you know, don't hate it too much. It's not that much slander, I promise. I really don't, I really don't mind St. Patrick's Day in a hole. I know it didn't read that way, but that's really the truth. It really is the truth. But, anyways, we'll get off that topic, right? Enough of that. What do you want to talk about? What else is there to check? What we can talk about is soon I will be flying. Early April, I will be flying. And you know, it always fascinates me with flying when people always say stupid things and they say things like, Hey, are you afraid to fly? I mean, look. Look. Am I absolutely super duper terrified of flying? No. Am I gonna get seizures and am I gonna need to breathe into a fucking brown paper bag because I'm flying? No. I'm not deathly afraid of flying physically. But who the fuck isn't afraid to fly? And I know people are listening to this right now and they're like, what do you mean? I fly all the time. I'm not scared to fly. You're not scared a little. You're not, I'm not saying you're popping a Xanax, you know, psyching yourself out, rubbing cold water in your face in the bathroom before it takes off. Maybe you're not that extreme, and I'm not necessarily that extreme either, but you're not a little afraid. You're not a little afraid during takeoff when the plane's literally going 900 miles an hour before it lifts up and things are rattling that aren't supposed to necessarily rattle, and some things are shaking and sounds are you're hearing, and then you just go into the air, knowing that six seconds into being in the air, you are now at a place where if you crash, you're gonna die. Absolutely no survivors. That doesn't scare you a little. Okay. Me and you are not the same, and I respect that. Like I said, I'm not afraid of flying, but I am afraid to do something that I know for a fact that if something does go wrong, there's a 0% chance that I'm gonna live. That's a little scary, and everyone always says the same line. You people are thinking it right now. There's more car accidents and plane crashes every year. Yeah, and there are, you know what I mean? Like there are, but it still feels different. You know what I mean? Like it still feels different. Are you scared to die of a heart attack, or would you rather get eaten by a shark? You know, like yeah, actually, heart attacks happen way more than shark attacks. Yeah, that's great, but I'm still terrified of fucking shark attacks. I'm still terrified to have a shark attack happen. I'm not ready, I'm not prepared to get attacked by a fucking shark right now. So, like, yeah, I'm a little uneasy about flying on a plane. I'm not scared to fly, but I'm also aware that it's a scary situation. Once you're in that air, you are truly helpless. And I know, I know drunk drivers and malfunctions of the engine, and planes are safer than cars. I know. I am well aware that planes are safer than cars. I hear you, plain people. I really do, I understand, I respect, I get it. I truly do from the bottom of my heart understand where you're coming from. But you're not a little afraid, you're not a little afraid sitting in a fucking vessel 30,000 feet in the sky, knowing that one thing that happened, if one, if that's it, if this thing goes down, you are done. And you're not just done, you're done. You're donezo. Identifying with teeth, you know what I mean? Like, you're that done. And it's it's just I don't know, it's scary stuff. I hate people say stupid shit like that. Like, hey, are you afraid to fly? Aren't you? You're not afraid to fly? Yeah. To each your zone, you know what I mean? And like I said, I'll be up there and I'll think not think about it and I'll count the seconds. But like, you're not a little afraid. Like, you know, whenever turbulence hits, you guys seem to get whoa, you know what I mean? Like the people that aren't afraid to fly, when they hit a little bit of turbulence, they're always just looking around. What are you looking for? We're done. We're done up here, man. So, like, that's it. You know, you could swerve out back into the lane in a car. That's it with the plane, man. Ain't no swerving, you know what I mean? Like, if you're going, you're going. And that's that's that. So, but yeah, it should be fun. Should be a fun time.

unknown 17:53

Should be really fun.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

But yeah, that's flying. That's my theory on flying. I'm not afraid of flying, but I'm also not like thrilled to fly. I'm not pumped to be sitting in a super small seat 30,000 feet in the air, not controlling the airplane. Um, it's not, it's not fun. I wouldn't call it fun. I'm not necessarily afraid, but I wouldn't call it fun. It's not, it's not, it's like a colonoscopy, you know? I'm not afraid of it. I'm not necessarily looking forward to it either. You know what I mean? But whatever. People always say weird stuff like that. Like, hey, are you afraid of heights? No, but I'm I also don't want to dangle it on a tightrope passing the Grand Canyon, you know what I mean? Like, I'm not like afraid to like be on a ladder or a tall building on a roof or something like that. But like, I'm I'm also not like doing crazy things while being super high. Like, my my my my point is like, aren't you a little afraid of heights? You're not scared of heights at all. You're not a little bit afraid of being however high you are on the ground. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe that makes me, you know, I'm not rock climbing, I'll tell you that. And I'm not like I said, I'm not afraid of heights, but I'm also not I'm also not rock climbing. I don't know. Maybe I am afraid of heights. I don't know. I don't think I'm rock climbing if I was you know, I don't think I'm rock climbing either way, you know. I think rock climbing is out of the question either. I'm more afraid of rock climbing than heights, so I feel like that's fair, but whatever. I just always hate those stupid questions. Are you afraid to fly? Hey, are you afraid of heights? You always hear that are you afraid to die? Am I afraid to die? No, I'm yeah, I'm terrified to die. I always envy that about old people because it I've I've usually only seen in the old people or super duper religious people that aren't afraid to die. They're like, No, I'm not afraid of death. I'm actually embracing death. I'm like, yeah, good for you. Good for you. I'm terrified. Of course I'm scared. Like, what? You're not scared? Wait, you're not scared? That's weird. You not being scared's weird. That's the problem. That in a whole is the problem. But yeah, people always say silly stuff like that. Very silly. Very silly comments. Are you afraid of death? Are you afraid of heights? Are you afraid to fly? Like, no, yeah, I guess. Right? Aren't you? Like, aren't you? You're not afraid to fly? I don't know. I never quite understood that one. I never quite got the gist of that one. That one always kind of like, I was always just like, huh. People always say dumb shit like that. People are just weird. People just like, you know, the way they the way they handle things, or like, are you afraid to fly? No, like, but like and then there's also though there's also the people that like are afraid of pickles. Like they're out there. There's a whole cult of these people. Like, I'm afraid of pickles, I'm afraid of light switches, I'm a I'm afraid, like, yeah, uh, that's weird, you know, and I'm not like fear shaming, but like that's weird. I'm sorry. If you're afraid of cobras, that's more understandable than being afraid of fucking pickles. And I'm sorry, pickle people. I'm sorry, people that are afraid of pickles. I really am from the bottom of my heart. But like your fear is a little weirder than the normal fear. And I'm not fear shaming, I'm truly not, from the bottom of my heart. But yours is a little weird. Being afraid of pickles is weirder than being afraid of cobras. Gotta get said, right? Come on, bear with me on this. That's gotta get said. We all have to agree on that. We all have to agree that some fears are more acknowledged and more appreciated than others. Come on. That's gotta be more than fair. To say you're afraid of pickles, I'm not judging you that you're afraid of pickles, but the person that's more afraid of cobras than pickles is less weird. Gotta get said, I'm sorry. I try to keep it straight. I really do. I really do try to keep it straight from the bottom of my heart. And I'm sorry. I really am sorry, picklephobia people. I really am sorry, picklephobia people. But come on! Of course a cobra's scarier than a pickle. Come on! I don't know, guys. I just don't know. I just don't know. This might be a shorter episode, guys. I got things to do, babies to kiss, people to meet, babies to kiss. I do! I got fucking babies to kiss, man. I got fucking babies to kiss. But yeah, that's it for me. It'll be a shorter episode this week. Happy St. Patrick's Day for everyone that's celebrating. Enjoy your corned beef. Enjoy your cabbage. Enjoy your green beer. Enjoy that green shirt. Enjoy being at the bar, and when the bagpipes come out, you go, woo! And for those that are celebrating St. Patrick's the other way, happy St. Patrick's Day. Enjoy the feast of the celebration of the death of St. Patrick from 461 AD. Enjoy it. This holy time. Let us pray. And for those that are in the middle, happy St. Patrick's Day for you as well. Well, guys, I'm out of here. I'll be doing stand-up this Thursday in Red Bank. And I will be doing stand up the next Wednesday at the Stress Factory. We're doing big things out here, and Gotta get said. So please come by, show your support, give a laugh or two. Give a high five is two. Like and subscribe to the podcast. I will see you guys, same time, same place. Until then, I'm out of here, and I say peace.