Ok, so .. since I'm busier than a starving one-eyed cat watching two mice (or, a one-armed paperhanger with crabs .. OR, a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest) .. I don't even have time to write an original diss for my least favorite holiday of the year. Yep, even less than Easter. I am not and will never be a fan of Valentine's Day.So here, you may read a blast from the past ... I wrote this last year on a blog that I have since trashed. Enjoy until I have time to write something else sometime. Someday. In the future. Some other time. Later. Like, not right now.
* * *
Happy Commercialized Hallmark Holiday!
posted Mon, 14 Feb 2005 03:52:05 -0800
When it comes down to people being so busy and so apathetic to their partners that they can only pick ONE day out of the year to celebrate their love for one another, it makes me sad.
Call us crazy, but Paul and I made a pact to never celebrate Valentine's Day.
I remember when I was little, say 3rd or 4th grade in elementary school. We would be given 2 sheets of red and pink construction paper. From there, we would staple the sheets together to make a pocket so we could collect our little Valentine's Day cards. Remember those tiny, oddly shaped cards, usually decorated with the most popular cartoon characters of the moment? Normally saying something simple like, "Would you Be Mine?" .. or, "Valentine, You're the best!" They fit into tiny white envelopes and an entire box was under $5. There was enough cards inside to give one to each and every classmate. And .. it was enough to put a smile on someone's face.
Just tonight I picked up a copy of InStyle magazine. Across the top reads "Gifts to Give and Get for Valentine's Day". I cringe, but I read on nonetheless. I want to see how people can become so crazy over this one day out of the year.
A pleated silk baby doll nightgown .. $125. Crocodile-embossed leather jewelry box in pink .. $325. Hoop earrings of 18kt gold and diamonds .. $650. Bouquet of roses, calla lilies, hypericum berries and hydrangeas .. $225 .. coral-colored cotton pajamas .. $138?! I slammed the magazine shut to keep from gagging.
Nicole Kidman peered up at me from the cover page with a smirk, as if to say, "This is how WE do it!"
This is not how I would EVER do it, even if I had money to burn.
Valentine's Day is no longer a day of asking someone if they will be yours. It's not a day of sharing love, it's not a day to do something special for your sweetheart.
It's a day for florists to cash-in and Hallmark to generate a sickening amount of revenue in a very small amount of time .. and for what? Purely crap, in my opinion. Let's not forget the chocolate and candy companies either.
I am all for surprises. I love to give gifts. I tell Paul daily how great he is, and how much he means in my life. To only share those things on ONE day out of the year, how horrid would that be? How loved would *YOU* feel if that was the only day your life partner chose to do something special for you?
I'll forever take a hug and kiss over a box of chocolates. A hug and kiss make you warm inside and it's something you can give over and over. A box of chocolates will only give me bad skin and thicker thighs.
I'll always choose an evening of sitting down to watch a good movie and have a few drinks, rather than munching on those sugary candy conversation hearts. Evenings together is a time to laugh, to make memories .. candy conversation hearts will only rot my teeth, or break them. Those things are hard to chew.
I'll always prefer hearing 'I love you' to receiving a heart shaped diamond pendant necklace on sale for $299.99 at the nearest jewelry store (who also does pretty well at Valentine's Day, I'm certain). Hearing those words means so much more than something dangling and sparkling on a chain. I can't lose 'I love you's' when the silver chain decides to break and fall off while I'm walking down a busy street, never to be seen again.
Skip the dozen roses .. the smell reminds me of funerals. Roses will wilt in a few days time, no matter how well you care for them. What's so beautiful about that? I'd rather sit down to a comfy dinner at home, light some candles and talk. Not to mention it's cheaper than a dozen roses, anyday.
It's not about being frugal, because frugal is one thing I am not. I love to spoil when I can. I try to make Christmas and birthdays full of surprises.
It's not about being single or bitter. Some people scream "Fuck Valentine's Day!" .. simply because they have no partner to share it with. I'm taken and I'm happier than ever. It's not a day where I ever felt unloved, rejected, or downright inadequate as a person, even when I was single. So what if every female co-worker in my office had a dozen roses catered in from their boyfriends and husbands? I sat and sneezed all day from the pollen and was proud to not have those thorny plants taking up their fair share of my cubicle.
I'm not anti-love. I'm not anti-romance. I have nothing against the color red. Satin-covered pillows embroidered with the words "You are so Loved!" don't even irk me that much. And yes, I even kinda thought those magnetic kissing Hallmark bears were cute that one year when I saw the commercial played over and OVER until V-Day.
I just don't need those things to show the one I love how much they mean to me on February 14th of every single year.
If we don't show our significant others how much we love them every single day of our lives, then what's the point really?
Draining my wallet won't prove it.
Giving gifts wrapped in red ribbons won't prove it.
Remembering February 14th every year and acting as if it's some gigantic act of kindness won't prove it.
Keep it simple and just LOVE ..
with all of your heart ..
EVERY day of your life.
Yes, THAT will prove it.
*****
Upon posting this, Gmail notified me I had spam. What was it? None other than an email from my friendly neighborhood Hallmark Gold Crown Store letting me know that if I was ready, I could buy Valentine's Day cards, TODAY .. (um, it's like 10pm on the Sunday night before V-day!), or receive special Member's Only V-day offers, OR I could "Give the Gift of Flowers Straight from the Heart!"
*SIGH*
