For most gals, today is a day for pink hearts and red roses, Godiva chocolates and sentimental cards that use phrases no one since Shakespeare has uttered. You should know by now that I’m not one of “those” girls. At the risk of offending anyone, I must say that I don’t like Valentine’s Day and I don’t celebrate it. Instead of red and pink, I’m wearing black and green today and I’d rather have a regular Hershey bar than a Godiva anything any day.
In elementary school, February 14 becomes a popularity contest of who can get the most cards or the most balloons delivered to the school. By the time high school rolls around, it’s a competition of who got the most expensive jewelry and/or clothes. When you’re an adult, it becomes a quest to receive perfect flowers and a perfectly worded card. And we all know what happens when it doesn’t turn out perfectly.
Contrary to popular belief, my opinion on Valentine’s Day isn’t based on the fact that I’m currently single. It’s not even based on the fact that for one Valentine’s Day, I received a handy, dandy vegetable steamer. I like that steamer but I haven’t liked Valentine’s Day since, well, since as far back as I can remember. I believe, and it has been proven to be correct from both my observations and from conversations with the men in my life, that Valentine’s Day is full of obligation, pressure, and expectation. None of these things for a good romance make.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love getting flowers as much as anyone; I just don’t want them on a day where EVERYBODY is getting flowers. Maybe I’m just being selfish but I want my own day, not a day I have to share and compare. I want to be told “I love you” on a regular old Tuesday, when the thought crossed your mind and burned so brightly that the words had to spill out, not on a day where Hallmark (no offense Hallmark, you know I love you and your gold seals) told you to tell me. If you have to be told what to say, maybe you ought not be saying it.
I happened to be at a mall this weekend and saw countless numbers of men searching for perfect Valentine’s gifts. I truly felt sorry for them. You could tell they were struggling. And while the argument could be made that if the guy loves his girl, he should know just what to buy, the fact remains that reading minds and picking gifts are not typically high on the list of any man’s favorite pastimes. In a world where relationships are already complicated enough, I see no reason to add this extra hoop through which to jump. To save everyone the trouble of trying to create a perfectly magical Valentine’s Day, I simply prefer to celebrate something else on this day...
Several years ago, I stumbled onto a calendar of alternate holidays. It was there that I discovered that February 14 is Ferris Wheel Day in honor of George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr, the civil engineer who introduced the world to the Wheel in 1893. Since that day, February 14 has been Ferris Wheel Day in my corner of the world… and I like it that way because is there anyone out there who doesn’t love a Ferris Wheel?
The irony, however, is not lost on me that the day intended to celebrate love is also the day intended to celebrate a fair amusement that goes around in circles. Or, maybe it’s not so ironic after all… love has had me going around in circles more than a few times.
Whatever you’re celebrating (or not celebrating) today, I hope you had a day that was... Something More.
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