st. patty's festival

i've lived in columbia 7 1/2 years and have managed to have never gone to the st. patty's festival (a.k.a. drunk-fest) in five points. it's something i sort of have prided myself on not having done.* but this year, my last year in columbia, i ended up helping my office out by volunteering for a 3 hour shift in the comfort zone tent.**

it was pretty much like i expected it to be--mostly really drunk people showing too much skin and getting sunburned, all in the name of... well, i'm not really sure what it was in the name of. in the name of "fun," i guess. but i don't really call that fun.

shameful highlights of the day:
-several heavy-set men dressed in kilts and no shirt (reference the picture above)
-a guy in some sort of green lycra outfit that covered his entire body, including his face (that was more creepy than anything)
-an older man walking through the crowd preaching and holding up an open bible
-a girl vomiting in the aisle of the shuttle bus on the ride back to my car

*sort of like not having gone to any gamecock football games, despite living within spitting distance of the stadium.
**my office gets proceeds for coordinating the volunteers for the day.