Every year, in the dead of winter, Hallmark wakes up from hibernation and smells profits in the air. But us? We smell existential dread. February 14th is a day to spend with your significant other, your gals, or your dog with a matching sweater. But Valentine’s Day is a gilded holiday and in its truest form, it just promotes consumerism.
Contrary to popular belief, we are not writing this just because we don’t have boyfriends. While that plays a minuscule factor in our opinions, there are many reasons to dislike Valentine’s Day.
If you do have a significant other, it’s just another holiday that you have to stress about buying a gift. If you want to have a special day regarding your relationship, why not just celebrate your anniversary? That’s what it’s there for. It’s honestly kind of weird to celebrate being in love on the same day as millions of other couples, very unoriginal. Not to mention the questionable amount of November babies each year…
On the other hand, if you don’t have a significant other, and you’re insecure about that fact (unlike us), then you’re stuck watching all these “happy” couples post about how much they love the person they’ve been with for what? A month? Exactly, they’re just overromanticizing their relationships, making others feel bad about themselves for being single, condemning them to a whole day of shoving chocolates down their throats, trying to suppress their tears while watching The Notebook.
And don’t even get us started on the color. Bright red? They couldn’t think of anything better? Christmas already claimed red as one of their main colors, not even two months ago, and it’s already making a reappearance. It’d be much better if it was a darker red, maybe more maroon, something that matches the pink better to make the holiday more visually appealing.
Every year, all of those sticky elementary school students are forced to craft not-so heartfelt messages to each of their fellow, even stickier classmates. Or their parents are stuck buying a 24 pack of Fun Dip, which makes their kids bounce off the walls.
All besides the point, people spare no expense when it comes to their valentine, and we mean no expense. In 2022, consumers spent almost $24 billion on Valentine’s gifts. Part of which was spent on the 58 million pounds of chocolate and candy that Americans purchased for their loved ones.
All this money could be spent elsewhere. That overpriced, heart-shaped box of chocolates could be a warm meal for someone in need. That pop-up card with a cringey pick-up line could be a blanket for someone on this cold, dumb, February night.
While it’s important to show people you care, it’s unnecessary to do that by spending excessive amounts of money. Spoil them with your actions, not your wallet. Make a craft, sing a song, bake some cookies, make a handmade card, rather than giving into the pressure from the all-mighty Hallmark.
February is a short month, it doesn’t need two holidays trying to dominate. Groundhog Day will always take the top spot. The only holiday mascot that we want to see in February is an adorable groundhog named Phil, not a creepy, little, flying baby wearing a diaper.
But if none of this convinces you to leave Valentine’s Day in the past, and you really don’t want to suck it up and spend it alone this year, you know where to find us *winky face.*
