I am supposed to be writing now, not blogging. I guess that this can be my warm up. I have a distaste and aversion to Valentine's Day, and this dislike has not subsided even though I am in a relationship. My distaste is twofold. First, I don't like 'days.' You know, mother's day, father's day, grandparent's day, secretary's day, dog walker's day, etc. It's strange. It's like, hey today is Valentine's Day, be nice to your significant other. You can be an asshole the other 364 days of the year, but on this one day, you'd better send flowers and chocolates and profess your undying love and appreciation. There is just too much emphasis on these 'days' and I think it allows us to slack off the rest of the year.
(by the way, I don't mind holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. Birthdays and anniversaries are milestones, so they don't annoy me so much. As for holidays, I can be convinced to celebrate them if there is good food.)
Second, Valentine's Day reinforces the notion that the most important relationship you will ever have, and the most important one worth honoring is an intimate, romantic relationship. And this bothers me, because we can have many different meaningful relationships in our lives, and they are not necessarily with a significant other. We have no designated day to honor our friends, for example. Maybe this isn't so bad, and maybe it's not giving our friends short shrift. I mean, since there is no friendship day, it frees us up to be nice to our friends whenever we want, even every day. Except, I guess, for a few select other days when we have to be nice to our significant others, mothers, fathers, etc.
(by the way, I don't mind holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. Birthdays and anniversaries are milestones, so they don't annoy me so much. As for holidays, I can be convinced to celebrate them if there is good food.)
Second, Valentine's Day reinforces the notion that the most important relationship you will ever have, and the most important one worth honoring is an intimate, romantic relationship. And this bothers me, because we can have many different meaningful relationships in our lives, and they are not necessarily with a significant other. We have no designated day to honor our friends, for example. Maybe this isn't so bad, and maybe it's not giving our friends short shrift. I mean, since there is no friendship day, it frees us up to be nice to our friends whenever we want, even every day. Except, I guess, for a few select other days when we have to be nice to our significant others, mothers, fathers, etc.
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