You can't stop the Irish from getting drunk at St. Patty's Day!!

Over half a million people flooded the streets yesterday for the 108th South Boston Saint Patrick's Day Parade. They were greeted by approximately 600 cops in bright yellow vests eagerly waiting to hand out $200 fines to those drinking in public. The addition of 200 officers to the 400 present at last year's parade, along with new regulations that bars close by 7 p.m. and liquor stores by 5 p.m., were all a part of the Boston Police Department's effort to reduce the public drunkenness and fighting that had become so common at the parade in previous years.

Southie is a very Irish neighborhood, and as we all know, the Irish love to drink. Especially around Saint Patty's Day.

The police crackdown was a hot topic the week before the parade. The news reported that Boston Police would be enforcing a zero tolerance policy and would be issuing $200 fines to anyone drinking in public. But was it all talk? Were they just trying to scare people?

The answer, it turned out, was no. They were pretty serious. Police issued 400 citations and made 13 arrests. Personally, I'm just happy I wasn't one of the 400 recipients. I already received one $250 drinking in public fine from Boston Police in the past year and one is enough for me.

The police did try to kill my fun, however, when they showed up on the rooftop deck of my friends' Southie apartment where we were partying. Six officers just walked right into the house, up the stairs, to the roof. Why, you may ask? Good question. When we asked the officers why they barreled their way through the house, they mumbled some bullshit responses like they wanted to make sure we had a railing on the deck and they thought they saw something get thrown off the roof. They seemed disappointed that we weren't actually doing anything wrong.

The police presence was a bit excessive but it didn't stop most from getting belligerently drunk (myself included). As I walked to the Andrew T station to finally head home after 11 hours of drinking, I tried to pick up a guy who I literally had to pick up - He was lying on the sidewalk. And that, my friends, is how Southie Parade Day should come to an end.