Valentines Pay

If ever a day has been hijacked, it has to be Valentine's Day.  Sure, Christmas and Easter have become commercialised but they are still have their original purpose.  Valentine's Day on the other hand has long since lost its meaning.

I can remember when it was a day that you sent a card to the object of your dreams who didn't even know you existed.  And it was done anonymously, so they still didn't actually know that you existed but they became aware of the possibility of your existence.  And one lived on such cherished hopes.  Now that was romance!

These days, it's predominantly a couple's, and even worse, married couple's, day.  Don't these people have anniversaries on which to celebrate their love for one another?

Somewhat ironically, it's subsequently entirely devoid of any romance.  For starters, there's no suprise here is there?  There's no "I wonder who this card is from" speculation.  Far from that, there is  actually a horrid sense of obligation about the whole thing. I know more than a few people for whom the whole day is more about staying out of trouble than about making any kind of statement.

Of course, the obligation thing is where the money is made.  Hallmark, restaurants and flower-shops aren't going to survive on the revenue generated by anonymous romantics.  So, instead, everybody has to send a Valentine's Day card or buy a gift, otherwise they're just not being romantic (i.e. supporting the economy) and we won't even get started on how all the prices miraculously rise on that day.

So I'm going to do my bit.  I'm going to buy some Valentine's Day cards and I'm going to send them off.  To married people.  Just to spice it up a little.