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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

February 14th

St. Valentine's Day. Single Awareness Day (S.A.D.). Whatever you want to call it. Happy February 14th!

As I sit here eating Valentine's chocolate and pondering the pros and cons of this day, I would like to add my voice to the boiling pot of mixed feelings on the most romantic day of the year.

I have mixed feelings myself. On the one hand, Valentine's Day has always been special with my family. We have a rather unusual family tradition: each year, my siblings and I come up with a surprise to show my parents how much we love them. So I grew up believing Valentine's Day to be a celebration of any kind of love. I like that version of Valentine's Day.

But here I am, for the first time, celebrating Valentine's Day far away from home at a university that is particularly romance/love/dating/marriage-oriented. The telltale signs of Valentine's Day are everywhere. You can literally smell it. (I would know the scent of Valentine's chocolate from a mile away.) And do we really need a day on which we gather in masses to profess to the world that we're in love? Why can't we just stick to personalized holidays like anniversaries?

So in an attempt to resolve my confusion a little, I'm going to make a list of the pros and cons of Valentine's Day.

Pros:

1. Chocolate. Obviously. If someone decided to start calling February 14th "National Chocolate Day," I would not be opposed. (Actually, maybe I should start up that campaign...)
2. Like I said, it can be a celebration of love for anyone. My roommates have all gotten each other Valentine's candy, cookies, etc. (Except for me...I guess I should get on that.) I'm eagerly awaiting my parents' reaction to their 2012 Valentine's surprise. There really are a lot of people to love in this world; why not have a day to remind ourselves?
3. Chocolate in the shape of hearts. (Very different from plain ol' chocolate.)
4. Seeing other people get surprised with flowers. Aw.
5. Chocolate wrapped in red. It's a very attractive color for chocolate.
6. People are more friendly in elevators. (Just a personal observation.)
7. There is an abundance of chocolate in my kitchen right now.
8. Ummm...pink? (It's a nice color...)

Cons:


1. Extreme commercialization, and not in a good way. Every time I go into the grocery store, I see these hideous fake roses and Palmer's Valentine's candy (I'm hesitant to call it chocolate. It's more like chocolate-flavored sugar). If I had a significant other, I would rather he do absolutely nothing than get me one of those cheapo gifts.
2. Unlike special, personal holidays like anniversaries, for people who do not currently have a significant other, Valentine's Day is a very loud, obnoxious reminder that "NOBODY LOVES YOU!!!" Even though you know that in fact, the only reason you're not dating someone right now is that you are actually secure in yourself and you're waiting for the right person to come along... What was obvious every other day of the year is now less obvious, even to you.
3. Pink and red, though both very nice colors, don't look very nice together.
4. People are more friendly in elevators.

Well, you can see that the pros outweigh the cons...but as the list clearly shows, Valentine's Day has been misnamed.

Happy National Chocolate Day!

1 comment:

  1. Okay, I agree with the National Chocolate Day title! And by the way, thanks again for a SUPER AWESOME Valentine's Day surprise this year!

    ReplyDelete