Happy Love Day Everyone!

Topic 5: Valentines Day, Romantic Evening, or Corporate Scheming?

We've all heard it once or twice before, the idea that Valentines Day was created by the greeting card companies to sell us carboard boxes filled with almost-cardboard candies. When I first heard that idea, I just shrugged it off with the assumtion that whomever said it was a little valentine-less this year. But what with these new anti-holiday fads that seem to be cropping up, like the war on Christmas and whatnot, I thought it deserved a little more thought.

First off, a quick read through the history of Valentines Day seems to negate any real theories that the holiday came into fashion, or even just the card-exchanging aspect of it, for the sole purpose of profit padding. It seems that the idea of a St Valentines Day being associated with love actually originated as far back as Chaucer. And add the fact that jewelry didn't really become associated with the holiday until the diamond industry started suggesting the idea as a gift in the mid 1980's, well that seems, at least to me, to further negate the idea of a corporate-birthed holiday.

But this isn't about history. And while one can argue the true reasons and inception of the original card-exchanging tradition, it's much harder to argue against the notion of a greeting card company putting the pressure on men and women with too much gift-related doubt and too much green in their wallets. People say it's strange, or unfair, or even wrong, for couples to be expecting gifts from one another; that it's immoral for a company to suggest that one certain gift will make your mate love you more, while not purchasing it might just put the kaibosh on your chances at scoring on the holiest of February's holy days. Personally, I can't think of many things less worth getting worked up about.

I honestly just don't see how people can get worked up and upset at the idea of a day where common practice is to spend time with someone you love and exchanging cards, pleasantries, gifts, and bodily fluids. I'm all for it, I think we need more holidays where I buy crap for my special lady, wax mushy over my ramshackle attempt at panang curry, and expect sweet sweet lovin before one of us zonks out from too much bubbly. Once a month, we should all exchange gifts, go out to dinner, and score. Think of how much happier your life might go, knowing that every month you had at minimum one solid shot at a romantic evening.

And as a side bonus, we wouldn't have to deal with crappy movie trailers where women with three names ending in “Parker” say things like “I'm not going to spend another Valentines day alone” while that Natalie Imbruglia song plays in the background.