Why Valentine’s Day is silly
Valentine’s Day an expensive celebration that cheapens love
Every so often, I will be recognized by someone who enjoys the work I do. They will stop me, tell me how much they like the columns, and we’ll chat. I always get a kick out of this, always happy to talk to someone who likes me. (Honestly, I’ve been doing this so long, I kinda wish it happened more, but whatever. That’s my stuff to work through. Anyway …)
Anyway, when this happens, it means something to me. It really does. For someone to stop what they’re doing to say hello to me never ceases to get old. It’s a great surprise every time, and every time I’m grateful.
Now let’s imagine instead that once a year, everyone who likes the work I do has to tell me how much they like it. They don’t have a choice. If they don’t, I’ll be horribly insulted. Of course, being forced to do this takes away the surprise, takes away the spontaneity, takes away the thrill. It would just be rote. “Happy Jeff Edelstein Day, Jeff Edelstein.” It would get stale quick.
The above story illustrates why I am antiValentine’s Day. Setting aside a day each year when it’s basically mandatory to show and tell your significant other how much you love them is the antithesis of what love is all about. Love is thrilling and surprising and makes you feel grateful.
Love isn’t - or at least shouldn’t be - buying a $5 Hallmark card and $20 box of chocolates and $40 worth of roses and $100 out to dinner.
Now of course, it doesn’t have to be that. Valentine’s Day can be whatever you make it out to be.
But a holiday that’s meant to celebrate love by forcing you to spend money to prove your love on a certain day is just flat-out silly.
You want to show someone you love them? Buy them a card July 23, some chocolates April 18, roses in November, and a fancy meal on a random Wednesday.
Jeff Edelstein is a columnist for The Trentonian. He can be reached at jedelstein@trentonian. com, facebook.com/ jeffreyedelstein and @ jeffedelstein on Twitter.
Origins of Valentine’s Day includes several stories although one with intrigue connects with a festival known as Lupercalia, a Roman fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, a god of agriculture.
The festival began with members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, visiting a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, allegedly received care from a she-wolf or lupa.
A History website notes, “the priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then pull the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide.”
“Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.”
Oh, the things we do for love. Like walking in the rain ..... Haha. On second thought, a dozen longstemmed roses sounds significantly better than whipping some fair maiden into a fertile frenzy.
Loathe Valentine’s Day. It’s a pathetic day powered by money-grubbing business owners who adhere to the alleged Phineas Taylor Barnum observation that a sucker births every minute. For the record, no evidence exists that PT ever uttered those words. Still, the adage remains true, especially during Valentine’s Day when people may pay $85 for roses or purchase ridiculous lingerie for their own pleasure.
Several parting shots about this day which remains popular throughout U.S. territories and gets celebrated in Canada, Mexico, France, Australia and Great Britain.
•The average American will spend $119.67 on Valentine’s Day this year, up from $100.89 last year. Men spend about $156 while the average woman plunks down $85. An estimated 15 percent of women will send themselves flowers.
Several articles mention that condom sales increase by 20-30 percent. No statistics available on vibrator or goat hide dipped in blood sale numbers.
If you do celebrate Valentine’s Day, be adventurous and smart. Purchase a flowering plant, make a Valentine’s Day card or prepare dinner. Offer a romantic massage.
Happy Valentine’s Day. (Yuck).
L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Find him on Twitter @LAParker6 or email him at LAParker@ Trentonian.com.