VALENTINE’S DAY: TOO COMMERCIAL?

BY AMBER HANDLEY

VALENTINE’S DAY- THE day renowned for romance. For some it brings joy, while for others it serves as yet another reminder of just how single you are.

The holiday, made famous by Saint Valentine in third century Rome, has become extremely commercialised.

From 1 February, you can’t seem to go anywhere without being greeted by cheesy cards and overpriced chocolates, never mind the seemingly endless displays of lingerie, which look anything but comfortableyes, I know that is precisely the point!

For those of you die hard romantics who find this to be the most perfect time of year, or those of you happily in re- lationships or the now prevalent ‘situation-ships’, I hope you all made good use of the endless resources at your disposal and had a wonderful Valentine’s Day.

But for the single ones, Valentine’s Day was probably a prominent reminder of your singleness, prompted by the undoubted array of Instagram stories capturing ‘the most romantic day of the year’.

Perhaps you participated in the popular Galantines Day which, yes, does have some charm about it, but is more or less just trying to make the fact that you have no one to spend Valentine’s Day with, except your single friends, sting a little less.

There is nothing wrong with not being in a relationship, yet Valentine’s Day has a special way of making you feel as though there is something inherently flawed with being single. And even if you are in a relationship, there is this expectation to buy your partner the perfect card, spend money on stuffed animals and chocolate roses, all in an effort to show your endless love and devotion on this one particular day.

What about the other 364 days of the year?

Why on this one specific day, surrounded by other sappy couples, should you feel the need to shower your partner with gifts and go on a fancy date, when you know millions of other people across the world are doing the exact same thing?

To me, Valentine’s Day feels impersonal. Yes, I admit, every- one loves receiving flowers and being told how much they’re loved, but I would rather someone gave me flowers and told me they loved me out of the blue, instead of participating in an act shared by millions of others on this single day in February.

In my opinion, Valentine’s Day is overrated. It celebrates those who are in relationships, requiring them to spend money and declare their feelings, while those not in relationships look on at displays of affection and think, why don’t I have that?

Although I don’t detest Valentine’s Day outright, and forgive me if it’s your favourite holiday, I am glad that it only happens once a year.

I hope those of you who didn’t receive 12 roses or find a love letter on your doorstep didn’t take it too hard.

I’m sure that when you do receive your favourite flowers or are told ‘I love you’, it’ll mean more coming on one of the other 364 days of the year.