Jesse thought he was making a joke. The Irish couldn’t take it.
The Irish can take a joke.
Jesse was mistaken and using the Irish reputation in doing so.
The streets and the subway system in New York, built by laborers, Irish predominant, are in very good order after over 150 years.
You must visit, to get an idea of what you are talking about.
My own family had the Bricklaying contract for the Empire State Building. It was put up in 1033, during the Depression. In a very short time. Have an uncle who was an engineer on the Trade Center.
they put up the gargoyles on the Chrysler Bldg and the ornamental plastering at Radio City. The brownstone at the Natural History Museum.
The Irish were not known in those parts, where they had so much input, as doin shoddy work due to drinking. So, any jokes regarding that from another part of the country where, BTW, they had no predominance, would not be a joke, but a lie and a mean one.
SO, as I said, the Irish won’t take lying.
And St. Pul, by the way, was settled by Scandinavians and Germans.
The Irish would like for him to just stick to the truth, and they’ll take any jokes therein.