Being Irish is awesome. It means big, loud, rambunctious families and always having a good time with your family for every occasion.

1. Pale skin

No matter what season, we’ll always have the lightest colored skin in the room. Sometimes we glow in the dark because we’re so pale. Nope, I’m just really pale. I've also been used as a comparison when talking about people who are sick. "She was whiter than you" is a weekly comment.

2. Sensitive skin

Sunscreen becomes your very best friend in the summer. If you forget to put some on, your toast. You have to constantly reapply unless you want your skin to fry. We don’t get tan, we get freckles.

3. Freckles

Every non-Irish person is fascinated by them and think they’re adorable. No matter how much sunscreen you use, your skin will still manage to produce more freckles. They sometimes even grow so large and numerous that they turn into large blobs.

4. The inevitable red hair

No matter what color I dye my hair, it will eventually turn some shade of red/orange. In the sun, my hair glows orange. If you’re lucky enough to have an Irish background and your hair doesn’t have a red tint, people will question why your hair isn’t red when you tell them you’re Irish.

5. Claddagh rings

Non-Irish people always question my ring and what it means. At this point, I just tell people to look it up.

6. People spelling St. Paddy’s Day wrong

IF YOU’RE GOING TO PRETEND TO BE IRISH, AT LEAST PRETEND RIGHT. It’s “Paddy’s,” not “Patty’s.” At the very least, just type out St. Patrick's Day if you aren't sure.

7. Sunscreen is so expensive

I can go through a tube of sunscreen in a week, so the cost really racks up, especially if you need a specific brand for your sensitive skin.

8. Wearing white sucks

People always feel the need to crack a “your shorts match your legs” joke whenever I wear white shorts. Wearing white is never easy, especially in the spring and summer before you have the opportunity to *attempt to* tan.

9. Always being the least drunk of your friends

We know how to hold our liquor and have naturally-high alcohol tolerances, so when friends ask us to go out and drink with them, we know we'll always end up being the most sober one there.