The Ultimate BS Holiday

This article will help explain some of what I write below:
http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/83/the-cost-of-showing-you-care


Now for my text:


As Americans, we are subject to a lot of marketing and advertising, but all pale in comparison to the marketing extravaganza that is Valentine's Day. I am generally not a fan of any of these Hallmark holidays, but at least with Mother's and Father's day I only really need to make a phone call, have lunch (usually paid for by the person whose day it is) or send an email. But on Valentine's day, people are expected to spend about $100 just to appease their significant other. To me, the biggest hypocrisy of it all lies in the fact that Valentine's day is supposed to be about love and affection, and ends up just being Christmas in February. I've never been a fan of any of the Hallmark holidays, but this one has always annoyed me because it can sometimes lead to the exact opposite that it's supposed to: fights, misleading feelings and disappointment. But it's worse than that. Valentine's day has to become part of the monthly budget, and in today's expensive world, that extra $100 CAN make a difference to most people my age. So I think that we should boycott Valentine's day, and for three good reasons: it's false, it's damaging to bank accounts and it's playing into the hands of major corporations.



First and foremost, Valentine's Day is supposed to be about love. But how much can you really love someone if you need your calendar to tell you the day to express it? It's an arbitrary date in February that is supposed to mean something to us, but it's original purpose was to mark the martyr of St. Valentine, not to express love for another. If you really love your partner, you will express it every day and Valentine's day shouldn't even cross your mind because you wouldn't do anything different. If you don't love your partner, Valentine's day forces you to feign feelings with someone that you only date somewhat casually. Like in the TV show "The Office", one character made the mistake of having a drunken hookup with an annoying co-worker on February 13th, and then had to deal with the Valentine problem, he takes her out and ends up getting himself into a relationship with someone he really has no feelings for. Sometimes it has the other effect; a person is expecting to be given a valentine and instead finds himself sitting alone at home without any love. Sure, sometimes it works and both people end up happy and all, but if you need a calendar to remind you when you should show your lover some love, you really don't love them.



Secondly, if you read that article above, you will already know about the damage this holiday does to bank accounts. The average person will spend $123 this year for Valentine's day and the total outlay for the US is $17,000,000,000! That money could be used for some much more useful stuff, like healthcare, education, infrastructure...anything really except for a box of chocolates with 25% being ones that nobody would buy unless they were in a variety box, or some flowers that'll die in a couple days, or spending money to hire a singing telegram, etc. Even worse is that's it's not really a day for couples to express love for one another, but for MEN to spend money on their WOMEN! The average man spends $163 while the average woman spends basically half ($84) that. Women bait men into playing into the game and wasting that money when they could be saving it for their future together. Let's do some math here: $163 put into an investment increasing at 1.5% more than inflation would make that same money worth $233 in Today's dollars in 25 years. If you put that money aside every year for 25 years, then you'd have $5,136.78 to spend at the end on a much nicer gift for the one you love (and if you really love them, you'll still be together in 25 years) like a cruise to Alaska or a week-long stay at an exclusive health spa. Get it? Valentine's day is basically a way to sacrifice a lot of future pleasure for a minor present day one.



Third, why do we have to do what Hallmark and Hershey's tells us to do? I like Valentine's day candy, but why do I have to buy it on 2-13 when it's 50% off on 2-15? We play into their hands by adhering to their signs and advertisements that say "show her you love her by getting her fat and buying her a stupid card that was written without any knowledge of who it was going to" or even worse "buy a piece of compressed coal for thousands of dollars to prove that you really love her". Are we really that weaK? Do we really have to do everything they tell us to just because there's a couple of words under the date on 2-14? NO! We do not! But, we kinda do because for every person who doesn't believe that these holidays should be celebrated, there is a significant other who does. And you do not want to be the guy who didn't get his girl anything for Valentine's day and have her get mad at you.



In conclusion, why do we celebrate this holiday? Is it to make single people feel bad? Is it to make men buy their girlfriend gifts in that long period between Christmas and her birthday (assuming she doesn't have a bday in those months...)? Is it to keep the Hallmark card company alive? Is it to stimulate the economy? Or is it simply to keep your significant other from getting mad at you for being the only significant other in your group of friends and acquaintances to not get a Valentine's gift? Honestly, it's basically the last one for most men, who generally show that they love their girlfriend/wife in their own way and not by gifts and cheesy poems. I think the fact that I still open my girlfriend's door every time we go anywhere, even if we're in a hurry, after 2.5 years is a much more significant sign of love than a $40 box of Chocolates that'll most likely go to waste. If your lover is worth loving, it is shown every day. If your father is a good father, you don't need a holiday to tell you to thank him. So what next? August doesn't really have a holiday, maybe they will come up with "Friend's Day" where you have to buy a card for every one of your friends. It sounds stupid, but so does Valentine's day to someone with a critical mind or who didn't grow up with it.