February 13, 2006 at 10:29pm
It's time that we - as a society, or at least people I know - admit that Valentine's Day is a total and utter sham, which is a cheap (or not so, in many cases, including mine a few years ago) way for retailers to make large chunks of change. For example, a friend of mine had to rush to some jewlery store today, buy chocolate, flowers, and other shit to present to his girlfriend on the glorious occasaion, this celebration of love, etc. If you put him on a polygraph and ask if he was happy to purchase these things for her, the reading would look like a 9.0 richter scale.
Don't get me wrong, he loves his girlfriend, and has no issue buying her things, or being a loving BF in general, but my point is that because once upon a time, the principles (love, etc) upon which St. Valentine said today is the day to spend with our significant others, etc -- an excellent idea -- has been ruined. E.g, because retailers probably added a footnote along the lines of: "and buy them shit" - thus the entire idea of a day of love was totally sullied by greed.
Personally, I am 110% pro-love, affection, etc, but I would rather show these things on my terms; not Hallmark's. If I were married, in a relationship, what have you, I would certainly not feel obligated to spend time with my sig other on one particular day; ideally, it would be many days, and I could buy her cards, etc whenever I want. And ideally, it would be often (yes, wiseasses, I am a romantic). I really don't appreciate the arrogance of 'society' that literally tells people that today is the day you have to love, or be extra nice, and like I said, buy shit.
V-Day does have its good. Statistically speaking* it is easier for single people to 'hook up' on 2/14 because A) couple are doing things together and it's obvious (hand holding, long-held looks, kissing, etc) they are not 'on the market' B) a lot of single 20 and 30-somethings are home spinning a tale of woe about how much it sucks to be single, get tired and go out on the town to meet a dude/chick. Thus, the assumption is that if you go to a bar or a social gathering, your chances of finding single people is significant (statistically). And the guesswork that goes into determining if someone is single is gone. Hence, a little effort can go a long way on V-Day towards hooking up, or whatever your particular goal may be. Please note: I am not moping, the Opp. Cost is too high. See below.
On the flip side, there is major opportunity cost associated with this "holiday"* I had a few v-day dates in my day, and I'd say I spent roughly $400 each date. If you count inflation since 2003, cost of living adjustments in NYC, I'm looking at minimum 500 bucks. That is nearly 2 ipods; his and hers, which certainly lasts longer than the memory of one date (and as I mentioned, V-Day-Ready couples have undoubtedly been on many dates, some absolutely fucking top notch, especially during the 'honeymoon phase'). If you compound the aforementioned with factors/questions such as: 1) Hmm, have we been dating long enough to even have a V-Day date? (ie, big stress, and may freak a chick out if she thinks you are too eager, thus ruining everything) 2) What to buy? How much is too much? What if she thinks I'm a cheap bastard? 3) Etc.
As you can see, the complications are endless. I made a personal choice to not go on a V-Day date this evening; reasons being: 1) save some cash 2) honestly, finding a date would've been a hassle, minus the chick at starbucks...layup 3) I am pretty tired and need to do some laundry. Face it, #2 was the kicker.
Which raises the point, am I am hyporcrite? Absolutely. I am nothing if not honest (and fairly full of shit). Despite my rock solid argument above, of course I would like to be out engrossed in coversation with some chick, holding hands, etc. etc. BUT - I would rather do that on any night, not this particular night. Which brings me to my original point; societies conventions are truly forcing our hands.
Enough about that. Happy Holidays.
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