Take it from a girl who just had her heart broken: Valentine’s Day sucks. I am not saying that out of bitterness either. Even when I had a boyfriend, I was hostile towards Valentine’s Day.
My attack isn’t on the reasons behind Valentine’s Day – love is a great feeling (until your heart is broken) – but rather an attack on what the holiday has become.
There are two reasons why I am not a Valentine’s Day fan. 1) It’s a cheesy, campy holiday that is over-commercialized. 2) The holiday is exclusive.
If you’ve walked into CVS on any given day during the past month and a half, you’ve noticed the giant aisle dedicated to hearts and bows and ribbons and the color red.
This annoys me. I’m irked by all this flashiness attributed to something that is supposed to be really simple and genuine.
The bright red and the hearts going in every direction are dizzying, and they distract attention from the true meaning the holiday once had.
Also available for purchase at the local CVS are Valentines you can give out. Small and cute, they have pictures of your favorite cartoon on them, and tacky expressions like “Be mine” and “You’re great” are printed on the back.
They’re aimed mainly at younger children who fill them out and pass them around the classroom on Valentine’s Day.
That is where the exclusivity of Valentine’s Day comes in. There is always the one kid who is left out and forgotten because they’re not very popular.
I was that kid. At my Catholic elementary school, I was a nerd. I was chubby, pale-skinned and freckled, and I had glasses and a knack for reading (I still look like that, but I’ve grown into it).
All these factors made me the class loser. When everyone except you gets a Valentine, it hurts.
It may seem like a small deal, but you begin to question how much you are worth as a person when you see everyone around you happy and well liked.
No one is really sure about the origin of the legend of Valentine. Legends range from believing Valentine was a priest who illegally married Roman soldiers to saying he was a martyr who, on the day he died, left his daughter a note that read “from your Valentine.”
This raises a question: Are we even celebrating a legitimate holiday?
To do the holiday justice, though, I do love chocolate, especially when coupled with hazelnut.
So if anyone feels like spontaneously surprising me with chocolate, go ahead. Just don’t feel forced to do so by corporate America.