My wife and I spent the last week in Ireland, partially doing a 'rain check' of a trip we had planned that had to be canceled due to the pandemic, and also because our daughter had the opportunity to march/perform in the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin as a member of her college marching band.
We opted, somewhat last minute, to buy grandstand seats for the parade so we wouldn't have to arrive 3 hours early (and possibly stand in the rain) to get a spot close enough to see our daughter. As luck would have it, all the grandstands were sold out with the exception of about 10 seats in the block closest to the start of the parade route, so that's where we wound up.
For about 20 minutes just before the parade was to start, there were 2 MCs entertaining the crowd with Irish jokes, trivia, prizes for answers, etc. At one point, they talked about how music is a big part of their culture, how everyone sings or plays an instrument, and asked if any Irishmen in the stands wanted to entertain the crowd with a tune. A woman volunteered, was given the mic and did a fantastic rendition of an Irish folk song to throngs of cheers and applause (there were ~1,000 people seated in the block of grandstands we were in).
After she was done, the MC asked if anyone not from Ireland wanted to give it a go and a woman a few rows below us volunteered. Turns out she was an American and when given the mic, she nervously proceeded to sing the U.S. National Anthem, and every American in the stands - which I'd estimate to be easily 1/3 or more of the crowd - immediately stood, removed cover, placed hands over hearts and sang along...unprompted and completely spontaneously.
She wasn't a great singer and struggled through a few notes, but nobody cared and it was an awesome display of American patriotism that was met with cheers from all and amazement from the rest of the crowd.
A great trip to begin with, but what a fantastic bonus and reminder that, while nothing's perfect, we still live in the greatest nation that so many others admire and aspire to emulate.
🇺🇲
We opted, somewhat last minute, to buy grandstand seats for the parade so we wouldn't have to arrive 3 hours early (and possibly stand in the rain) to get a spot close enough to see our daughter. As luck would have it, all the grandstands were sold out with the exception of about 10 seats in the block closest to the start of the parade route, so that's where we wound up.
For about 20 minutes just before the parade was to start, there were 2 MCs entertaining the crowd with Irish jokes, trivia, prizes for answers, etc. At one point, they talked about how music is a big part of their culture, how everyone sings or plays an instrument, and asked if any Irishmen in the stands wanted to entertain the crowd with a tune. A woman volunteered, was given the mic and did a fantastic rendition of an Irish folk song to throngs of cheers and applause (there were ~1,000 people seated in the block of grandstands we were in).
After she was done, the MC asked if anyone not from Ireland wanted to give it a go and a woman a few rows below us volunteered. Turns out she was an American and when given the mic, she nervously proceeded to sing the U.S. National Anthem, and every American in the stands - which I'd estimate to be easily 1/3 or more of the crowd - immediately stood, removed cover, placed hands over hearts and sang along...unprompted and completely spontaneously.
She wasn't a great singer and struggled through a few notes, but nobody cared and it was an awesome display of American patriotism that was met with cheers from all and amazement from the rest of the crowd.
A great trip to begin with, but what a fantastic bonus and reminder that, while nothing's perfect, we still live in the greatest nation that so many others admire and aspire to emulate.
🇺🇲
