Around this time of year blog postings and magazine articles tend to fall in to two categories: whining about being single or applauding the life of coupledom. This is neither. Am I single…yes. Would I like to have a “Prince Charming”…sure. Am I going to wear black all weekend and drink myself into a stupor at some point….wellll. It’s not that I detest Valentine’s Day, because I don’t. I just don’t get it. Some people call it a Hallmark holiday that exists only for consumerist purposes, and I tend to agree. Everything in the news promotes giving gifts and shopping and giving gifts..oh and shopping for chocolates. On February 11th roses cost $11.99. On February 12th, $39.99. That doesn’t make much sense to me? And you’ll notice that the box of chocolates that once held 20 pieces of candy all crammed together, now hold ten pieces that have plenty of cushion room.
I think I was born in the wrong era. The time when people put thought into the day. Where Stop & Shop didn’t need to have an express line on Sunday morning for flower purchases. Where did the days go that a gentleman would come to your door all dressed up to drop off one rose or a handwritten poem (no matter how bad the rhyme scheme was)? Why were simple actions like offering an arm, tipping a hat, etc exchanged for a spending competition and a reminder in a cell phone? I won’t even jump on the “you should tell people you love them every day not just on February 14th” train. So if sometime this weekend when you are rushing around for a last minute gift or card, and you happen to stumble over a time machine….wrap it in red cellophane and send it my way!
best we can do nowadays is to buy her a cake and eat it!