Stephanie Kalinowski ’19, Student Life Editor
When I was younger I always thought Valentine’s Day was the most romantic day of the year, as it was a day of displaying your love for your significant other. Cupid, the Valentine’s Day idol, is seriously just a grown man wearing a diaper following you and your love interest around shooting arrows at you. Come on that is just creepy. Who even comes up with this and why do we go along with it?
As I grew older, I fail to see the true purpose of this pointless holiday is all about. I think that everyday you should be showing your love and affection towards your significant other, not just on Valentine’s Day or that other commercial holiday, Sweetest Day. If you love someone enough to be in a relationship, then you should express your love for them everyday. This seems like a reoccurring factor in almost all holidays.
It took me a couple of Valentine’s Days to realize that this holiday really sheds a light on those who are not in relationships, making them feel unloved. Junior Darien Maynarich said, “Valentine’s Day is the most depressing day ever, but on the upside, my mom does buy me chocolates and says she loves me.” Seriously, how can that get any worse? It is already dreadful enough to witness all your friends showing romantic gestures toward their significant other by holding hands or cuddling at a movie right next to you while you sit there in envy and wonder why you agreed to come in the first place.
It is almost as if you are getting punished for not being in a relationship; on Feb.14 we single people all get to gawk at those girls displaying a huge grin on their face while they receive their giant romantic teddy bear with chocolates and a bouquet of pretty flowers. Gross.
Having friends that are in relationships really test your skill on how well you can keep your reactions and side comments at bay. The fact that you are expected to hide your jealousy when your friends show you the love letters and jewelry that they received from their amazing boyfriend is one of the most challenging things to take on.
How are you supposed to sit there and act all happy and not accidentally roll your eyes and scoff at them without hurting their feelings? Sophomore Emma O’Connell said, “Valentine’s Day reminds me of how many of my friends are in relationships, and the whole day just makes me feel lonely and wanting to be in a relationship as well.” When you are not in a relationship you seriously do not know how to act around your friends, do you secretly hope they gain weight from the countless boxes of chocolate they receive or do you help them eat it?
Feb.14 also builds a lot of stress on people who are in relationships. The struggle to find a the perfect gift is the ultimate challenge.You do not want to be overly cliché and get the teddy bear and chocolates, and you would rather do something special which takes a lot of stress and time to think of. This often leaves people to purposefully avoid to not start dating someone until after Valentine’s Day or break up with them before the holiday, which is even worse.
On that same note, so help me if I get proposed to on Valentine’s Day, I will say no. (future husband, pay attention). Proposing is the most cliché thing about this day, and it takes away the excitement from what should be the most special moment of your life. In that moment you realize that someone wants to spend the rest of their life loving and caring for you. The whole awkward fancy dinner, and you are sitting there wondering why your boyfriend is acting weird, and then you find a ring in the slice of cake you decided to share and oh my goodness! He proposed…blah blah blah. The fact that we can all think of a cliche proposal on Valentine’s Day shows how often it occurs, it is shown in movies and we see it all the time in real life.
Maybe someday when I am in a loving relationship and too in love to care what others think, I will change my mind. However, as of right now, Valentine’s Day could possibly be the worst holiday of all time.
Photo courtesy of Zazzle
Lyon Life 