When you think of Valentine’s Day, what thoughts and feelings go through your mind? For many it conjures up romantic undertones and a chance to show off your romantic side. But beyond that what does Valentine’s Day really accomplish? This question popped up during my conversations on-line using the social networking site known as Facebook. For those who are unfamiliar with Facebook, it is a web site where you create a profile and then link it up with your friends and family. What makes Facebook so appealing to Filipinos is the ability to interact with our friends at any time by leaving them messages or chatting in real time. Comments are always a highlight as all your friends are able to see the comments left by you and other as well as reply to them. A cyber-conversation if you will.
The questions that created this very interesting discussion was a survey I sent out containing 20 questions regarding your views on Valentine’s Day. It seems that views regarding Valentine’s Day varies from person to person. For some it is an opportunity to re-connect with their special someone to express their undying love. For others it is a public reminder that being single and having no one to share it with really blows. Having been on both sides I can attest to the validity of their opinions. Valentine’s Day, if you will, is kinda of like a second chance for husbands and boyfriends who during the year may have forgotten a certain person’s birthday or anniversary. Women, it seems can never get enough affirmation from their other half, which is why businesses like See’s Candy and Hallmark are making a killing on us. For those who have no one to profess our love to, at least according to the terms of your restraining order, Valentine’s Day is a blatant reminder that while you wallow in misery there are others out there rubbing it in your face. Some say Christmas can be a depressing time of the year if you are alone, but even at Christmas time, you have the joy of celebrating the birth of Christ and attending parties where they opportunity of hooking up is present.
The worst Valentine’s Day for me occurred when out of the blue the person I was seeing decided that of all days, this one was the day to break up. Breaking up on Valentine’s Day? Yeah, that one kind of sucked and stayed with me for a while. Getting dumped is never an easy thing, but on Valentine’s Day, it seems almost sacrilegious. Getting the short end of the stick on Valentine’s Day is akin to waking up and discovering your car was stolen, except with cars, you can get insurance to reimburse you. Now, how neat would that be to have relationship insurance to cover you in the case of a break up? It would be nice to get reimbursed for all the time and money spent developing the relationship. All the dinners, the jewelry, the clothes, the tickets to the opera, the gas used to drive to their parents house, the time you spent listening to them complaining about their lives. I wonder how much one could receive from this sort of insurance policy? I’m assuming this is one type of insurance that you won’t see at Geico, to bad really, because I think they could make a killing selling it.
I believe Valentine’s Day was designed solely for flower stores, chocolate shops, greeting cards sellers and the restaurant industry come out in force to remind men that in order to truly show your loved one that you really love them you need to purchase their products and anything less is going to be an insult and show a lack of caring on your part. I find this amusing because in a recent interview asking women what they would like most on Valentine’s Day the response was to just spend some intimate time with their beloved. So guys, no need to drive to Costco to get that discount certificate to See’s candy, no need to call in a reservation to an overpriced restaurant where you send more time in line than actually eating. No need to spend $50 on some roses that will die in 5 days (Unless you are using Valentine’s Day as a make up for some other important day you forgot). All you need to do is whip up a quick dinner for her at home rather than go out. Write her a personal poem instead of forking over some hard earned money for a card, make sure you DVR your TV shows so you can devote the evening to her, after you do the dishes of course. Then take some time to answer the following questions to get to know each other better. I think you will discover that Valentine’s Day is not so much about emptying your wallet to prove your love for someone as it is spending time with them and acknowledging that, at least for one day, you have the ability to listen to them and get to know them better.
This is a Valentine’s truth survey So don’t lie:
1. What do you like most about your Valentine?
2. Are you flirty with your Valentine?
3. Before meeting your Valentine, were you a player?
4. Had you not ended up with your Valentine, would you get back together with any of your exes?
5. When was the last time you passionately kissed your Valentine?
6. Do you prefer group dates or single ones?
7. Is it better to have loved and lost or to have never loved at all?
8. Do you like cuddling up while watching a movie?
9. What’s the best Valentine’s Day present for a girl?
10. What’s the best Valentine’s Day present for a guy?
11. What is special about this day?
12. How is your day so far?
13. Who do you want your Valentine to be?
14. What is a one Valentines gift you have received?
15. Do you like Valentine’s Day?