(no subject)

[simtarts]

I'm seeing a lot of "I hate Valentine's Day" stuff flooded on the internet today, per usual. It's funny because even though I'm in a serious relationship, I am completely ambivalent about the day and also think it's a tad pointless and stupid (please don't be offended if you DO enjoy the holiday!). Back in high school, though (i.e. ages ago), I remember it being Hell on Earth. Various clubs and whatnot would "sell" stuff for valentines day, like candies, flowers, balloons, and singing telegrams, and they would all be delivered during classes. Which seems like an annoying disruption that shouldn't be allowed, if you ask me. Anyway, it always seemed like the same girls got these valentine deliveries. They were the sort of girls who ALWAYS had boyfriends, and I remember being mystified as to how they got that way, and moreover, why they WANTED to always have boyfriends. What the heck is the point of being sixteen and as cute as you'll ever be if you're already going to act like your married? The delivered gifts were always really ugly and cheap, too--ugly plain balloons, dyed carnations--definitely nothing I would actually have wanted. I don't think those girls cared about the quality of the gifts, though. They cared about everyone seeing them getting valentines, because then we would know that they were desirable, that somebody liked them.

When my boyfriend and I celebrated our first Valentine's Day together, I told him he didn't have to get me anything and that I didn't really care about the holiday, so if he wanted to keep it low-key, that was fine with me. He seemed suspicious, as if I must surely be playing some kind of trick or testing him. Keep in mind that one of his friends was forced to sleep on the couch for a week when he didn't "propose" on V-day to his girlfriend as she expected, so he was accustomed to girls getting all diva over the holiday. This is our third Valentines day together, and he knows by now that it's not something I make a fuss over. Other people sure do, though. I couldn't believe the flower specials I saw around town this weekend, and for being "special" they sure are expensive. Forty dollars for roses that will die. Actually, my cats would probably knock them over/eat them before they died. All because someone, somewhere decided that Feb 14th was a good day for making people buy stuff for their loved ones.

I found it one hundred times more meaningful when my boyfriend surprised me with an new iPod, for no reason except that I had dedicated myself to working on my novel all summer long, and he wanted to reward me for my hard work. He got me a gift not because some day on the calendar told him to, but because he wanted to. What could be better than that? Maybe an ugly carnation....

Comments

[curiousb]

I completely share your feelings on this! Yes, I too remember it being awful at school, when you got overlooked on Valentine's Day (as I nearly always did), and all the popular girls were getting cards and flowers left, right and centre, but since leaving school I've never liked to make a huge fuss over it. My husband and I usually get each other a card, and this year I got him a small token present (which cost £3), plus washed up after dinner even though it was his turn, and he bought me tea and cake at a cafe and some of my favourite flowers to plant in the garden - I'd genuinely rather make small gestures like that than have either of us spend a fortune for just one manufactured 'special occasion'.

And this is a bit spooky, but the gift that meant the most from my husband was also a random iPod that he bought me on no particular day, just because my old one had broken and I couldn't afford a new one!