I think that one of the best parts of my job is that I get
to do different displays each month about world events, local happenings,
things that interest me or holidays within the month. This month I was especially pleased as I got
to do a display highlighting my intense dislike for Valentine’s Day. It actually made me giggle to staple a large,
broken heart to my bulletin board and surround it with other hearts that were
emblazoned with the best break-up lines ever.
Oh don’t worry, I made it educational by tying books to it by saying
that sometimes love bites and making sure our vampire love books were displayed
below.
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| Every kiss does not begin with K |
What is wrong with me, you ask? Nothing!
Or what is wrong with my husband?
Again, nothing. He is a romantic
and thoughtful man. I just really hate
the saccharin forced romance of Valentine’s Day. I groan at the red candy boxes everywhere and
the combo stuffed animal/Mylar balloon that seem to be in every store. Gentlemen, if you are buying your woman a
fair-quality stuffed animal at the gas station, that is not romance, that is
convenience. Ugh and the red roses. I hate red roses. I hate the smell of decaying youth that they
give off, I hate the baby’s breath they surround it with and I just hate the
sight of them. I had a man in my life
that bought me red roses for everything. I smiled nicely the first few times
before I told him I really do not like red roses. Guess what I got for the next Valentine’s
Day? Yup, red roses. They were not just any red roses, but roses
that were mostly dead because he waited until the last minute to buy them. Oh, and he used my credit card. Bill was well versed on this story when we
got together and I proudly say he has never succumbed to buying me red roses,
or any roses for that matter. I think
that my favorite flowers are those picked by little hands out of the grass and
presented with a beautiful smile and pride.
Now that says love!
They say it is romance, but I think disappointment is the
main theme of Valentine’s Day. I dislike
it most for its promise that big things are going to happen today! If you are in a relationship, you will feel
entitled to a wonderfully romantic day and if you are single, you can’t help
but hope someone is going to notice you and surprise you with declarations of
love. I remember both my sister and I
being sad at home one Valentine’s Day where we were not expecting anything but
we couldn’t give up the hope of expecting anything either. When the doorbell rang about 5pm, we started
a stampede to the door that took down everything in its path. I don’t think I had ever run that fast! It was a flower delivery man! It’s for me! I know it’s for me! Was it from the guy in ECON?! How did he find my address?! I knew he liked
me!! Oh, wait, they were for her. Sniff. I am sure I spent the rest of the day writing
bad poetry in my room. Even grade school
children are not protected from this bitter disappointment. Sure, everyone has to bring a Valentine for
everyone else which is nicer than it was when I was a kid. However, then there are the moms who know
their Valentine’s Day is going to be a wash so they project their need for a
beautiful day onto their children. They
have their sons take flowers or candy or something special to a girl at
school. Great for that girl but what
about the other girls who get the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Valentine like
everyone else? That kind of
disappointment should not be felt so early on in life. I remember holding a sobbing SG after her 4th
grade Valentine’s party where she was not one of these singled out girls. I regaled her with my own horrible Valentine’s
past and at the end she felt better and I needed a drink.
I fully expect a lot of high school relationships to start
breaking up next week. I am prepared for
weeping and wailing come Tuesday as young men panic at the thought of being
romantic or buying a gift and decide it is easier to just break up until after
February 14th. Apparently
there is some sort of carnation sale going on as well and you know there will
be hurt feelings, sadness and what? Yes,
disappointment. There will be kids with
armloads of flowers and kids with none.
There will be the girl who bought a flower for some guy who doesn’t even
know who she is and the guy who bought one for a girl who just told him that
she likes him but only as a friend.
Ouch.
I am sure there are a lot of wonderful stories out there
about Valentine’s Day. I am sure people
fell in love, or were reunited or proposed to and that they hold a special
place in their heart for Valentine’s Day and think that I am somehow damaged by
my dislike for it. Maybe I am who knows?
I just don’t think Hallmark should be the one telling me when I should be
romantic, or making me feel bad because I have just read through thirty cards
and there is not one that truly conveys my love/lust for my husband in prose. I am truly grateful that they do not
celebrate Sweetest Day in Texas the way they do up north and that I don’t have
to go through this forced romance twice a year.
Guys, you are kind of damned if you and damned if you don’t,
so at least be original. No red roses
and no gas station purchases. And if you
girlfriend sends you a Valentine’s before the actual day it is because she
knows you are busy and will forget and you need to send something right then,
don’t promise something big later. (Sigh,
another of my Valentine’s past). Ladies, guard
your heart. We have been beaten down
with the imagery and Kay jewelry ads for so long that even the hardest heart
among us is expecting big things. Go
gentle into Valentine’s Day. It is not
going to be your best day ever. It is
not going to be so romantic that people sigh when you tell them. And for heaven’s sake, if your man buys you
an outfit for your personal time together, do not tell me. I won’t be able to look either of you in the
eye ever again.
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