10:06am, Friday 14 Feb 2003 (Updated Fri 14 Feb 2003)
Song of the Day: Kelis - Caught Out There
Ahh.. Valentine's Day. Was there ever a more stressful relationship-testing event?
The office is bubbling with talks about Valentine's Day.. romantic dinners, flowers, teddy bears and all that. The girls talk about it constantly, whilst the men complain that Valentine's Day is too commercialised.
Too commercialised? Oh well, I suppose that Christmas has a pretty low advertising budget. Ditto Fathers and Mothers Day. We wouldn't dream of missing out on those special occasions.. after all, they're hardly commercialised, are they?.
I was listening to the radio this morning where they were asking listeners to phone in and comment on the commercialisation of Valentine's Day. I only stopped to listen for a few comments, but the comments I heard were from men, all agreeing that Valentine's Day is way too commercial, and that you should show someone you love them and care about them all year long, not just for one money-sucking day.
Wow. Great idea. In theory.
When was the last time you loved and cherished someone all year long, the way you're supposed to on Valentine's Day? When was the last time you showed that you cared and made an effort, ALL DAY, EVERY DAY, ALL YEAR LONG?
The truth is, its impossible to be perfect all year long. Because life isn't perfect.
There's always going to be screaming kids, or a thankless boss, or bad hair days. There will always be stress of some sort in our lives - ergo we will not be the serene, caring and thoughtful partners we're supposed to be, 365 days a year. We can't possibly be. To be perfect for 365 days is asking far too much - but hey, here's an idea, how about just ONE day?
Valentine's Day is not about giving presents of a material nature. Sure, some people choose to show their feelings by sending flowers or whatever. But really, Valentine's Day is about making up for every other day of the year where you might have been a little snappy, or neglected your partner, or took them for granted or were just a total bastard every now and again. Its about saying "I still feel this way about you, even though I might not always show it". Thats not commercial, one day is better than none.
An excellent discussion on this topic can be found here.
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