Without a doubt, February has always been my least favorite month of the year. I apologize to all of the Aquariuses, but this month always seems to drag on forever. Gloomy weather, nothing really to look forward to– I could go on and on about the downsides. However, my least favorite day of all is February 14th. Yeah, you read that right. That random day of the week when people gift their significant others wilted flowers and overpriced chocolates and amp up their PDA to gag levels. Frankly, I would rather drink acid.
It is a widely known fact that Valentine’s Day’s origin is NOT rooted in love but rooted in MONEY. The only people who really benefit from Valentine’s Day are large corporations who just want to drain your bank accounts. Romantic, right? This holiday has become less about expressing love for one another and more about who can buy the biggest teddy bear and drop the most money on dinner reservations. It’s more about the competition and grand gestures than anything else at this point. If that’s what you want to get out of this day, maybe go compete on “The Bachelor” or something… Not to mention the very blatant fact that the things people typically do on Valentine’s day for their significant others are things that they should be doing year round.
Let's give some love to our single people, too. All this holiday does for us is put a spotlight on the fact that we aren’t cuffed. It paints us out to be all sad and lonely when in reality a lot of us are perfectly fine with the fact that we aren’t in relationships. Trust me, most of us are perfectly content watching from the sidelines as people in relationships stress over these 24 hours. But Valentine’s Day just can’t seem to accept that.
I could go on an endless rant about what else makes Valentine’s Day just about the worst holiday to ever be celebrated by mankind. For one, it occurs in the WORST month possible. Who decided February, with its extremely depressing weather and lack of excitement, would be the ideal month? Furthermore, have you ever seen how creepy Cupid is? Why did we choose a naked man-baby with wings trying to cosplay as Katniss Everdeen as the symbol of love? But I digress.
No matter what this holiday is supposed to represent, I think it’s safe to say that it has skewed very far from that. To me, it seems like Valentine's Day does more harm than good. Rather than trying to pick one day where we celebrate the loves of our lives (or maybe the love of the month, I don’t judge), we should all agree to focus on loving and supporting each other every day of the year. Or, at the very least, we move the holiday to when the weather can actually make up its mind.
Cupid approves of this message.
[Image via Waukee Public Library; Image via iStock]