Valentine's Day

This is such a strange holiday (or is it an event?). Although millions (including me) present candy, flowers and gifts to the ones they love, it still seems to be a Hallmark event, one of those moments created by consumer capitalism where we all open our wallets in unison and SPEND.

Is that cynical? Perhaps. But it's hard to ignore the obvious. There's no reason why February 14 should be the day when I express my love and affection more extravagantly (and materially) than usual. So why do we do it? Cultural expectations, of course.

This results in the expression of a lot of artificial emotion that's pro forma and insincere. We go through the motions to avoid being seen as cold-hearted and insensitive, more interested in preserving our image than in expressing great feeling.

Yet many people (women, I'm afraid) get quite upset if Valentine's Day finds them without a lover/spouse or if that lover/spouse ignores the event or produces a gift that the recipient feels expresses an inadequate level of feeling. I'm stunned that so many otherwise intelligent people are so easily consoled and mollified by the expression of manufactured emotion.

Of course, all this "heavy thinking" ignores the simple joy of the holiday when children go off to Walmart or Walgreens, buy the package of Valenitines and then go to school in a trembling state of excitement to find out who admires them from a distance and if the one who caught their eye will appreciate such attention. And then of course, the candy. Great stuff, till you hit puberty when the air goes out of the balloon and Valentine's Day becomes serious business.

Regardless, happy V day! It's a mid-winter pause that refreshes--sometimes.