My thoughts on Valentine's day.

As you all are probably aware, if not by the constant barrage of advertising or the fact that you may actually have yourself a life partner, Valentine's day is just around the corner.  

Just before I get into this, I would like to make it clear that I am not of these opinions because I am sad and lonely, I have had the same standing whether I have had myself a lady at the time or not.  

Firstly, and probably mostly obvious by now, the media have ransacked this commemoration, much like most, and it is largely about how much money you spend on one another, or at least that is how it is portrayed so people spend, spend, spend. This can be seen in such advertisements you find absolutely everywhere you look; in newspapers you'll find advertisements encouraging you to spend hefty amounts of money on things on no real meaning, for instance, on my way home through town this afternoon I saw one praising a mobile phone as a 'perfect present for your valentine'. Now call me old fashioned, but why on Earth would a mobile phone hold any real meaning like a valentine's day gift should do. And if it isn't meaningless expenditure like such, it is tacky heart shaped chocolates, or pink fluffy slippers, or other novelties that have no real meaning, yet are shrouded in falsified gestures of love and caring. Whatever happened to people taking some time and thinking about it? 
 
Secondly, it seems to have become all about the females in relationships. Now i'm not going to get into any 'well Women like lovey dovey crap and Men don't' points as that is not what I am saying. What I am saying though, is why can't a Man care? If the day is meant to be about showing love to one another why does there have to be a focus on one side? Now this may be down to the people I am around at this time of the year, but just being in shops surrounded by people shopping gives off the same feeling. 
 
My main point though, is why does the act of showing your partner how much you love him or her have to be consigned to one particular day? Why can't it be every day? Well, not every day as that would then become the normal and kind of expected, but I expect you understand my point. Acts of such kindness and love should be far more sporadic and not happen on specific days, especially not the same specific days as everyone else. 
 
Now, I think I have burnt myself out with all this writing, hence why each paragraph became increasingly shorter. I hope it is coherent, as I am pretty bad at writing out my thoughts for others to understand. 
 
OH, and also, just as sort of an escape clause, I am not saying this is true of every body, this is just what I have noticed in the people around me and in many different forms of media, as I know full well someone is likely to take something out of context and blow it out of proportion as this, after all, is the internet.  
 
Thank you if you read this, and I don't blame you if you don't get to the end.

As you all are probably aware, if not by the constant barrage of advertising or the fact that you may actually have yourself a life partner, Valentine's day is just around the corner.  

Just before I get into this, I would like to make it clear that I am not of these opinions because I am sad and lonely, I have had the same standing whether I have had myself a lady at the time or not.  

Firstly, and probably mostly obvious by now, the media have ransacked this commemoration, much like most, and it is largely about how much money you spend on one another, or at least that is how it is portrayed so people spend, spend, spend. This can be seen in such advertisements you find absolutely everywhere you look; in newspapers you'll find advertisements encouraging you to spend hefty amounts of money on things on no real meaning, for instance, on my way home through town this afternoon I saw one praising a mobile phone as a 'perfect present for your valentine'. Now call me old fashioned, but why on Earth would a mobile phone hold any real meaning like a valentine's day gift should do. And if it isn't meaningless expenditure like such, it is tacky heart shaped chocolates, or pink fluffy slippers, or other novelties that have no real meaning, yet are shrouded in falsified gestures of love and caring. Whatever happened to people taking some time and thinking about it? 
 
Secondly, it seems to have become all about the females in relationships. Now i'm not going to get into any 'well Women like lovey dovey crap and Men don't' points as that is not what I am saying. What I am saying though, is why can't a Man care? If the day is meant to be about showing love to one another why does there have to be a focus on one side? Now this may be down to the people I am around at this time of the year, but just being in shops surrounded by people shopping gives off the same feeling. 
 
My main point though, is why does the act of showing your partner how much you love him or her have to be consigned to one particular day? Why can't it be every day? Well, not every day as that would then become the normal and kind of expected, but I expect you understand my point. Acts of such kindness and love should be far more sporadic and not happen on specific days, especially not the same specific days as everyone else. 
 
Now, I think I have burnt myself out with all this writing, hence why each paragraph became increasingly shorter. I hope it is coherent, as I am pretty bad at writing out my thoughts for others to understand. 
 
OH, and also, just as sort of an escape clause, I am not saying this is true of every body, this is just what I have noticed in the people around me and in many different forms of media, as I know full well someone is likely to take something out of context and blow it out of proportion as this, after all, is the internet.  
 
Thank you if you read this, and I don't blame you if you don't get to the end.

that's a lot of readin just to say it's a marketing ploy.

" that's a lot of readin just to say it's a marketing ploy. "

If you wind the woman/man you love,then it dosen't really matter if its v-day or any other day of the year,you love them,they love you life is awesome. So i don't give any importance to v-day.

I think the best thing you can do for valentines day, without spending much unnecessary money on commercial bullcrap: 
 
Take her out for a nice goddamn dinner. Or make her one. With champagne. You can't get away without spending a dime, but at least it's not cheesy chocolates or jewellery, some such crap.  
 
Alternatively, you could craft something nice for her, to show your love without spending any money. Plus if it's actually nice, she'd appreciate the work put into it. 

I've not once in my lifetime celebrated valentines day. 
It usually ends badly if I'm courting someone. Those people are idiots though, obviously.

" Clearly you are not getting laid this Sunday or Monday. "

I usually just use Valentine's Day as the opportunity to get away with flirting with other guys, and it totally works every time. I don't quite know anyone who thinks it's a day where people totally remind their partner that they wuuuuuv each udder (D'awww).

I plan on getting laid tonight.  I'll keep you updated.

For me Valentines Day is always about people claiming how they think Valentines Day is a sham and you should love your woman everyday. 
 
 
 
other than that so far the only valentines related thing I've seen is that The Office episode where Michael and Holly are back together.

I totally agree.

I've ignored Valentine's Day a few times in my 19 years of marriage. Not a good move. Just saying. 

I agree that everything about Valentines day has gotten a bit out of control. It's just a cultural thing though. Yes it's dumb, but so is every other holiday. Just enjoy it for what it is, and don't spend too much money.  :P

This argument has been done to death, and it's not going to change anything.  It's like complaining about Christmas:  It may be shallow, but it's super-glued to the fabric of society.  

TL;DR?

"that's a lot of readin just to say it's a marketing ploy. "

" Clearly you are not getting laid this Sunday or Monday. "

" I agree that everything about Valentines day has gotten a bit out of control. It's just a cultural thing though. Yes it's dumb, but so is every other holiday. Just enjoy it for what it is, and don't spend to much money.  :P "

I was gonna make a girl I like a sketch of me and her, cuz i'm pretty good at sketching and she loves my sketches. But suddenly she's with some other guy so I'm just gonna sit at home like all v-days :\

It's a phony, commercialized day. Who wants to drop big bucks right after Christmas, and with tax time looming over the horizon? Also, crappy weather in many lands is a good reason to stay indoors, not venture out for nightlife.Likely, the other 364 days play a larger role in what kind of day you'll have on 2-14 (14-2 IN UK)

" I agree that everything about Valentines day has gotten a bit out of control. It's just a cultural thing though. Yes it's dumb, but so is every other holiday. Just enjoy it for what it is, and don't spend too much money.  :P "

"  I'm going to just agree with you on all those points since that basically matches up with how I see Valentine's day. Good read though I got to say. "

" @Sin4profit said:

"that's a lot of readin just to say it's a marketing ploy. "

hahah pretty much, but it was a good read nonetheless.  "

" I was gonna make a girl I like a sketch of me and her, cuz i'm pretty good at sketching and she loves my sketches. But suddenly she's with some other guy so I'm just gonna sit at home like all v-days :\ "