I wrote this about 13 years ago… And I’m gonna post it every year… or until I get the energy to either update it or write a new one! lol
So it’s another Valentine’s Day… Why all the hate?
Where did this bitterness come from? As we get older do we just become that much more cynical… maybe we see ourselves as less a “person” and more a “consumer”. Now more than ever people perceive Valentine’s Day as:
“A contrived Hallmark holiday, designed to make men feel obligated to spend money on trinkets or look like jerks, to make women look like petty, materialistic harpies, and to make people who are not in relationships feel like social lepers.
And let’s not go into the rampant purchasing of overpriced greeting cards, bad chocolate, and tacky lingerie…
(thank you to my friend Saundra for the perfect statement!)
I submit to you that Valentine’s Day is NOT a “Hallmark Holiday”
In fact St. Valentine’s Day (yes it’s actually a “Saint’s Day”) has been around so long even the Church can’t remember when or WHY it started. There have been numerous St. Valentines, all of whom were martyred! Hallmark on the other hand has only been around since 1910.
Like I said before there’ve been numerous St. Valentines, and even the Church can’t tell you how or why they are linked to Love or Romance…. BUT we do have a couple of legends…
(these I got from the History Channel’s website)
One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men — his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.
According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first ‘valentine’ greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl — who may have been his jailor’s daughter — who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed ‘From your Valentine,’ an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It’s no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.
So it seems to me after reading these legends that Valentine’s Day wasn’t a “Hallmark Holiday” or even a sanctioned holiday… it was a “Saint’s” day that the People made their own. Which makes it the LEAST commercial holiday EVER!
Now all that being said, I think we’re missing the spirit of the holiday. Where’s the fun???
If you’re married or in a relationship, and you’re so concerned with working, paying bills, worrying about the kids, or busy with “grown folks” problems, maybe Valentine’s Day is a good reminder to do something special for your loved one!
If you’re single it’s an even better day to let the ones you may have an attraction to know that you have said attraction! Don’t you remember in grade school when we had those little parties with INSANE amounts of candy and cupcakes and we gave little valentine cards to EVERYONE??? That was awesome! Honestly, how cool would it be if today at work, the boss decided, that everyone is taking the afternoon off and having sweets and passing out those little cards?
I’ll tell you a TRUE story!
…I was in 3rd grade. (I remember because I transferred the year before from a public school to a Catholic grade school) and we were having one of those little Valentine’s Day parties. And I had a massive CRUSH on this girl (who was HOTT!! …for a 3rd grader!) And as I’m signing the cards for all my classmates, I wanted to find her the best one. As you all know when you buy those little packs of cards you get something like 5 copies of 5 different cards. As fate would have it there was actually 1 card that didn’t have any copies… a UNIQUE card for my crush!! But when I came time to pass them out, I CHOKED!! I don’t know what it was?? Maybe I thought that she was gonna check her card against all the others I gave out and notice that hers was unique, and figure out I WAS IN 3rd GRADE LOVE!! So as it turns out, she was the only one in class who DIDN’T get a card from me!!
That was my first in a long line of love failures since! (and it still carries on today!)
I don’t think she ever got over it either. Because last I heard, she was a lesbian! TRUE STORY!!!
Ok, now having read all that, if you’re still feeling as though Valentine’s Day is a fake Hallmark Holiday, you’re either Broke, Cheap, in a crappy relationship or single and bitter!
Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
Anyone wanna make out?
OH, by the way, I did some research on “Sweetest Day” because I thought that that was in fact a made up “Hallmark Holiday” because I don’t remember it until sometime in the 80’s. But as it turns out I found some history…
Sweetest Day
Observed the 3rd Saturday in the month of October, Sweetest Day observance originated in Cleveland in 1922. Herbert Birch Kingston, a philanthropist and candy company employee wanted to bring happiness into the lives of orphans, shut-ins and others who were forgotten. With the help of friends, he began to distribute candy and small gifts to the underprivileged.
Now I have to ask, if you purchase something for someone on Sweetest Day, does that mean that you think they’re “special” in a Hockey Helmet sort of way?
