…for the love of money, not VALENTINE’S DAY!

I am boycotting Valentine’s Day. Yes I am.

I am not a love-hating, sinister spinster who curses love for all the disappointment and heartbreak it brings. Not at all.

I’m a sucker for love – which usually just makes me a sucker – and mostly, I really love presents (I draw the line at hideous teddy bears holding ‘I wuv you’ love hearts, though). Love I can handle. It’s the commercialism of V-Day that irritates me, and frankly, I’m still recovering from Christmas-commercialist rage.

After December/January celebrations, the piggie-bank is on a crisis diet. Starving, really. Suddenly, V-Day is revealed for the empty holiday that it is. Why do we need a special day dedicated to remind us that we love our LOVED ONES? Shouldn’t we be doing that already? And if not, well, maybe you shouldn’t be celebrating V-Day at all.

You could say it’s tradition, but even that’s a murky memory of religion, murder, imprisonment and then…hmpgh…grumph…love and chocolate hearts, and flowers, oh my! Fast forward a few hundred years and the original meaning is lost. And there was more than one St. Valentine, which kind of defeats the purpose of declaring your love to a ‘one and only’. You can read about the history of Valentine’s Day here.

Still, I won’t deny the holiday for new lovers. I mean the really new ones, who are still in that phase of judging the credentials of their new partner by what they do on Valentine’s Day. The size of a rose bouquet is a great determiner of ‘to dump or not to dump’. In the other extreme, it’s great for couples with kids who do, in fact, forget to love their loved ones because they’re just so gawd damn TIRED.

But it’s really a holiday enjoyed best by whoever has the most money. A dozen roses don’t come cheap.

So, this year, my partner and I are forgoing Valentine’s Day. We said ‘I love you’ yesterday, and we’ll probably say it again tomorrow. I just don’t feel the need to say ‘I LOVE YOU’, with capital letters sprawled over a red velour heart-shaped chocolate box and a teddy bear holding a red heart that says the same thing. We can’t afford it either.

If you’re feeling sceptical, single or not, I’ll give you 14 seconds to convert to boycotting V-Day:

1. You already got sucked in at Christmas. Is commercialism really going to trick you again so soon? SUCKER.
2. Roses die. And Chocolates get eaten. A new pair of shoes will last at least a year.
3. The cupboard that stores your collection of dried roses, teddy bears and empty heart-shaped boxes is FULL.
4. The credit card is also full.
5. Because you don’t need to express a currency conversion of your love.
6. There are starving children in Africa. And India. And America.
7. You can’t eat a dozen roses.
8. A dozen roses is not synonymous for getting laid. Maybe stick to 1 rose instead. Or none.
9. Because, you are in fact, single and have no single friends to pretend that Valentine’s is a load of crock.
10. A box of chocolate hearts for one is a heart attack waiting to happen.
11. You did exactly the same thing last year. It kind of predictable.
12. Roses and chocolate boxes are half price the day after.
13. February 15^th is the NEW VALENTINES for those who are savy. And you want to be cool right?
14. A block of chocolate is made from the same stuff as those heart kind. Only cheaper. Melt them yourself if you must.

I understand the social pressure. Everyone’s doing it. But if they all sallowed a vial of poison in the name of love, would you do it too?
Just tell them it’s an every day thing for you – you’re so in love, you don’t need a special V-day to remind you how much so. That’ll shut them up.

What’s your V-Day going to be about?

Other articles that shoot on Valentine’s Day with an arrow.

• Why Valentine’s Day sucks, Written by a person that hates Valentine’s day. (hadafewbeers.com)
• Valentine’s Day: Is it worth the Fuss?? (thatsmartlittlegirl.wordpress.com)
• Valentine’s day, the most romantic day of the year? (ronnieroque.wordpress.com)

Tags: boycott, chocolate hearts, history of valentine, Love, romance, rose bouquet, Saint Valentine, Valentine, Valentines Day