It's coming, so I guess it just makes sense that I rant about that upcoming "holiday" that occurs somewhere between February 13th and February 15th. I don't celebrate it, I don't think it's a valid holiday, and every year I roll my eyes and look the other way when it returns.
In grade school, I loved (deep breath) Valentine's Day. It was a time to exchange cards, receive hugs from my parents, and eat chocolates. My school had a bake sale each year and my mother and I would make chocolate suckers, it was a shit load of fun.
As I grew into puberty, the end of grade school promised something more, a dance. A Valentine's dance, which brought with it the glorious dream that I would finally dance with my crush and have my first kiss. I was let down, abruptly.
I've been let down ever since. When it came to dances, although I did rock the mosh pit I otherwise stood against the wall, watching other couples dance. Now, fast forward to present day and I watch other couples enjoy dinner, attend movies, get married or engaged and other such insanity if I even DARE step out the door on said day.
I can't even go out for dinner with a friend, because we will be seated among a sea of kissy faced assholes sharing the only offered "for two" meal that night. The restaurant business excludes me specifically that night, it's offensive.
What do I do when I find myself single on Valentine's Day? The same thing I do when I'm in a relationship, I spend time with my closest friends and consume beverages of the bubbly variety.
It's a protest that started about a decade ago, when I had been let down enough (only took a mere 7 years) to know that it was all crap. Hype, created to get those "in love" to buy crap to tell that person they feel said way. I don't see why people can't just say it, but what do I know?
So I saw it for a commercial holiday for suckers, which excluded certain lifestyle choices and said - F THAT. The first few years was easy, I had a ton of single friends from University who were on the "never get married" train (most are now indeed married) and we hit the town, never to mention the "day".
A few years into it, I found myself drunk and downtown New Orleans wandering with other single travelers. We passed a man selling roses who was shouting out "Valentine's Day is for the Ladies". He repeated it so much, it stuck with me, and that is my new ideal.
It is for the ladies, if you think about the traditional way we look at it (and by that I am picturing Ned Flanders singing to his wife). It's all seemingly about getting us diamonds, roses, chocolates, etc. It IS for the ladies.
If it's for the ladies, then why do I need a man? I make the day about spending time with friends (the group has dwindled), where we make dinner, drink wine, and sit around being, well, fabulous. Yeah, surprise, we are JUST like in sex and the city,....note sarcasm.
I don't need a day to tell me I'm alone and I should be with someone sharing woo, and neither do any of you. For those of you who are single and fear this day each year with the thought of another night in, alone with a bag of lays and a shitty romantic comedy, STOP.
Call your friends, and if they are all out being gross, find a better movie with no romance what so ever, enjoy the lays, and pat yourself on the back for missing out on an overpriced meal at a restaurant crammed with other people and cheap decorations.
That, and make sure you have lots of wine, and a cat. Stay Single My Friends.
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