happy valentines day, friends! or... depending on your perspective... happy "intensely marketed consumerism day, which falsely forces you to love people, or feel badly if you don't". whichever floats your boat. andiepants happens to enjoy valentines day. not excessively. i don't count down the days or anything. but its nice. valentines day seems to say "hey world! you love somebody? take a minute and tell them!", which i am very supportive of.
but i dislike the whole "if you're single you can't participate in valentines day" bullshit. what exclusionary nonsense. like most of the world, i've been on both sides of the proverbial fence, single for some years, attached for others. and manfriend or not, i have stubbornly celebrated valentines day. i see valentines day not as a day for couples, but as a day that forces you to consciously be thankful for the people in your life that you love.
maybe it was my parents and their attitude toward valentines day that shaped my perspective. my parents seemed to always celebrate valentines day as a family. my brother and i got little chocolates and a bigger chocolate heart that we scarfed down after school. it wasn't as if my parents said "nope, sorry. this one's for couples. here, hold my chocolate while i accept all these diamonds and balloons."
and i have mixed feelings about valentines day at school. in elementary school (at least at my school), the teachers provided some supervision and seemed to make sure that everyone received a valentine in their adorable mail box ..... i choo choo choo choooose you.... elementary school valentines day parties were full of pink cupcakes and super awesome beauty and the beast and aladdin valentines. it wasn't until middle school/high school that things got a little dicey. my schools introduced the valentine candygram, where one can purchase an adorable little candy bag and a message and have it delivered during first period. and oh man, that was the worst! this process made everyone except the uber popular crowd feel terrible. i sat there in first period band, with my flute resting across my lap, while the "honorary cupids" called out the same name over and over, and the loveliest girl in the class rose gracefully to collect her 15 candygrams. each year i got at least one... my friends and i had arranged to send each other one, so we would at least get something.... but crap! thank you, valentines day candygrams, for reminding me how awkward and self conscious 14 year old andiepants was.
that being said, i do remember my first valentines day as a "couple." i was about 13 (young, right?) and this "young man" came over to my house on valentines day with a kermit the frog and hearts themed gift bag full of presents and matching kermit-y love balloon. now, kermit isn't exactly the most romantic figure in history but i appreciated the gesture. i've had some really crappy valentines days. obviously 15 year old andiepants wasn't exactly loving life while being passed over with candygrams. there were also a few years where most of my friends were "coupled" and chattering excitedly about their romantic dinner plans to which i was not invited. that was when i decided that single people deserve valentines day too. during college, single andiepants and some of her ladies descended on a local restaurant in some saucy little outfits, enjoyed some very colorful libations and celebrated. no significant others in sight and it was fantastically awesome.
and now, with six and a half months to go until i am a married lady, i'm still enjoying valentines day. this year, mike and i decided to scale back in the way of gifts since we are saving money for the wedding. but we made sure that we took the designated day to express the love. so, readers, enjoy this evening and take time to express the love. single, married, straight, gay, old, young,.... go! just go express the love. and next time, don't wait for society to tell you thats its time to tell the ones you love that you love them.
be thankful,
andie.
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