Making dark comments about the likelihood of an unhappy outcome is the way we Irish Catholics deal with anxiety, dread, and uncertainty. It’s our special pact with God: If we expect the worst, obsess about it, worry about it, drink about it, indulge in black humor, and honestly convince ourselves that something awful is going to happen, then God will step in and prevent said awful thing from happening just to mess with our heads. But you have to sincerely expect the worst, not just go through the motions. It’s when you expect good things to happen or keep happening — when you presume upon God — that bad things happen. Remember what happened when the Irish presumed upon all those potatoes?
Dan Savage, “Welcome Black”, AndrewSullivan.com, 2005-08-08.
