Samantha Chaffin
Editor-in-Chief
A phrase so despicable for many, they’re all but ready to leave a room the moment it is uttered.
A phrase clouded in deep-rooted frustration.
A phrase so ubiquitous, it’s inescapable at certain times of the year.
No, I’m not talking about common obscenity or your average curse word that slips out after stubbing your toe. I’m talking instead about a phrase that is plastered all throughout department stores and listed on almost every calendar in the U.S. and in many destinations overseas.
Valentine’s Day.
For many, Valentine’s Day is a phrase and a holiday that brings about an almost instantaneous groan combined with the classic eye-roll.
“Nobody cares.”
On the contrary, the general consensus is that Valentine’s Day is a pretty big deal. A lot of people care and choose to celebrate the day, whether they’re single, married, or otherwise.
According to a 2013 CNN article, consumers spend nearly $2 billion on flowers and another $2 billion on candy each Valentine’s Day, with the per person average spending amount coming out to just under $131.
In other words, unless the last two years have seen drastic changes in consumer habits, Valentine’s Day is a florist’s (or candy company’s) dream come true!
As noted in this week’s “What to DO at ISU” calendar, National Singles Awareness Day is a day that follows Valentine’s Day each year on Feb. 15. Or, for people like Samuel D’Amico from this week’s photo poll, it’s a day for cheap candy (my personal preference).
The obscenity in Valentine’s Day, I speculate, comes largely from individuals who don’t have a significant other to spend the holiday with, as well as from those who find the idea of chocolate and roses cliché and cheesy. A more valid point I’ve heard is that there shouldn’t only be one day a year that we are expected to show our love toward our significant others.
Full disclosure: I’m one of the people who has a significant other to spend the holiday with.
Regardless, even in years past when I’ve been alone relationship-wise on Valentine’s Day, it’s never left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Of course being alone on a day that’s primarily about love and relationships could be disheartening, and of course we should show our love more than just one day a year… but what’s so bad about any opportunity we have to go a little further, love a little more and be a little cheesy?
It’s one thing to show love every day of the year, but it’s another to go all-out and do something special—because if special happened every day, it wouldn’t be special. It would just be ordinary.
If you’re single, why not spend the day with friends or family, or take D’Amico’s approach and at the very least take advantage of sales on candy in the days that follow?
You don’t hear every non-Christian groaning at the mention of Christmas or Easter every year, so why should Valentine’s Day be any different?
Of course it’s roots may not be so deep in religious background, but the point I am trying to make is that it should be celebrated for what it is: an opportunity to show love.
Whether that love be for a significant other, a friend or a family member it doesn’t matter.
We can all skip the eye-rolls and groans and instead try to take the time to show someone we care this Valentine’s Day.
