Allow me to be clear and somewhat frank, I do not like Valentines day. I don't know when it was made up but I wish the person who did make it up to have bees inserted into their eyes until it really really hurts. I will explain....
Second only Christmas, Valentines day sells the most cards of any given day. This in itself is unromantic. We seem to have lost the basis of romance. If everyone does one thing, it ceases to be romantic as it is cliché and unoriginal. If you go out for a meal on Valentines day, this again voids any romanticism that was at all possible. Primarily because the restaurants will all be so full that it would be impossible to have a conversation or indeed to sit on the table looking longingly at one another as the table has a two hour limit. Secondly because it is expected, which dents the inherent values of "romantic". Mr Darcy wouldn't take you to a chain restaurant hiding as an upper class eating venue. He almost certainly wouldn't take you to Nando's because he forgot and everywhere else was booked.
Small bears holding incoherently large love hearts, knocked price chocolate in Tescos, fake roses, real roses trebling in price, rubbish television and Ronan Keating. This is what pops into the head when people discuss Valentines day with me. Hmmmm not exactly Wuthering Hights now is it?
Not only this it seems to be a day to remind single people just how very alone they actually are. Like everyday of eating for one, drinking for two and then clamouring into your double bed, sobbing slightly whilst grasping your pillow to resemble a torso isn't enough, there's a day to feel even worse because of it.
A day for watching people googly eyeballing each other, neck kissing on the train, holding each others hands so tightly as if to say "never go".... sigh. Oh yeah, wierdo, you've been watching these people for far too long, they have clocked you and are now fleeing from your sodden eyed reach.
This may sound as though I'm being a touch negative due to the fact that I am not currently in a relationship. I'd like to state this isn't the case. I don't like it when I am in a relationship. It's stressful. Particularly because of the restrictions that I put upon myself not to be cheesy but still original.
Here comes my hypocrisy, we shouldn't have to have to have a day delegated to love. We shouldn't have to be told how to show that love through material goods. If you choose to show it in that way then fine, I salute you and off you go. But if you, like me, think that a simple post-it note left on a desk simply saying "I miss you" tells you more than any card that someone else wrote could ever even dream to achieve. Or a day spent together doing something you haven't tried before like roller skating or painting a t-shirt just because you can or anything else that pops into your head on that particular occasion is more unique to your relationship with someone than being shepherded in and out of restaurants like a flock of sheep. Or you even just think that you should show your love for someone as much as humanly possible, not just on one specified day. Then you may well boycott this entire "Valentines procedure" next year.
“Love cannot be forced, love cannot be coaxed and teased. It comes out of heaven, unasked and unsought.”- Pearl.S.Buck
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