I’ve been a member of the Shanghai Dolls for a while now, so as soon as the Dolls introduced the membership card, I got one.  Discounts on waxing and restaurants?  Yes, please.  And since then, the card has served me well, though not as well as it served me on St. Patty’s day. In celebration of St. Patrick’s day, I went to O’Malley’s in the French Concession.  It was just me and a few friends, along with every other expat in Shanghai.  I have never seen O’Malley’s as crowded as it was that night—people were wedged into every corner of the pub, both inside and out.  We could barely move, let alone make it to and from the bar.  But it was a fun night—lots of singing and dancing and drinking green beer—basically, what every St. Paddy’s day is about.   It was still quite cold in Shanghai so I was wearing my winter coat, but after a few minutes of being in the bar I had to take it off, despite the fact that there was no coat check and I didn’t want to hold it.  There was great music on, and I wanted to dance!  And I can’t dance while holding my massive coat; it messes with my moves.  So I tossed my coat under a table near where we were standing, on a pile of other coats and bags.  Pretty soon my handbag joined the pile.  I couldn’t let anything get in the way of me, my green beer, and dancing to the Pogues and U2.