Listening to your friends complain about their relationship just to hear the Galentine plans are canceled due to the fact that their “situationship” texted them back… (Although they will probably get ghosted again.) And for those purchasing extravagant, corny gifts, how does it feel to fall victim to consumerism? Personally, I think it feels great. A little retail therapy never hurts especially when it is pink and covered in hearts. Anyway, the holiday is inescapable whether you like it or not.
PROS:
My astrology sign is Scorpio and I love Valentine’s Day, so I guess you could say it is in my genetics (I was conceived in February). I love seeing the stores drowned in shades of pink and red, with the shelves overflowing in chocolates. And the immediate discount on chocolate and squishmallows after Valentine’s inspires me to spoil myself days after the holiday guilt-free. As a girl with a sweet tooth, how could I hate a holiday that glorifies chocolate and my favorite colors?
“I love Valentine’s Day because it’s always been something I enjoy,” Senior Serena Larsen said, “My mom used to give me little gifts here and there, and I love sweet chocolate.”
Valentine’s Day also reminds me of the beauty of Doordash. I can get my butter burger without a glorified chubby little angel with a bow and arrow shooting me on the way. Honestly, if Cupid were to shoot me I would not get up considering his track record around here. But I respect and enjoy his holiday because it is the one day a year I wear my pink jeans.
There is some sweetness to being a girl on Valentine’s Day. The unspoken expectation to wear a little pink, purple or red and smile at the girls doing the same. The girl you walked past had the same pink bows in her hair and for a second you stopped stressing about your Valentine’s plans.
CONS:
My friends who are most upset about Valentine’s Day are the ones who got scheduled to work; keep in mind, they work in the food industry. Imagine a whole night of serving couples who almost broke up on the way to dinner because their significant other gave them the wrong directions. As someone who used to work in a restaurant, I can confidently say the staff can feel the tension between you and your partner and we talk about it in the kitchen. But awkward work encounters are not the only reason people find the holiday revolting.
“I feel like people nowadays with the holiday go out and spend all this money trying to get people to love them more based on the amount of money they spend,” Senior Sofia Tinker said.
Whether you love or hate Valentine’s Day you are yearning for something. Some wish for a partner while others regret having ever met theirs, and then we have those trying to muster up the courage to reach out. But everyone craves love in some type of form, and the feeling does not go away after the 24 hours of glamorized romance.
Valentine’s Day allows corporate America to capitalize off the shopaholics, single and taken. But clothes last longer than boyfriends and once I saw The Lana Del Rey x Skims Valentine’s Day collab I knew corporate America won again. Kissing my cash away this Valentine’s Day, how about you?
