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Why I hate Valentine’s Day

Why I hate Valentine's Day

Seriously. I don’t care about Valentine’s Day at all.

As a singleton, it’s a surefire way to feel terrible about your aloneness.

As a couple, it’s about stupid societal pressure to validate your love through grand, sweeping gestures.

Me, I’m not one for overdone romantic schtick. (But then again, I’m not engaged to a millionaire. Maybe things would be different if we played in the world of private yachts, holiday homes and personal chefs. We exist in a much more humble and down-to-earth dimension.) The best thing I could possibly imagine (on Valentine’s Day or any other day) would be to come home to dinner and a freshly scrubbed house. Literally.

Valentine’s Day is about expecting guys in particular to go all out and to plan insanely amazing days for their partners. And as girls, are we supposed to feel let down or as though missing out – or as if our BFs are lacking – if they don’t come up with extravagant gifts and gestures?

Thursday will be just another day, as we more or less ignore it. Maybe we’ll go out to eat, and maybe I’ll go watch The Princess Bride down at Silo Park with some friends.

Tell me, how do you feel about Valentine’s Day? What’s the most/least romantic gesture anyone ever made towards you?

19 thoughts on “Why I hate Valentine’s Day

  • Reply Sarah February 11, 2013 at 09:10

    I’m opposed to the manufactured romance of Valentine’s Day, but I do like the idea of taking a day to celebrate love. I used to message all of my friends when I was single (because everyone loves text messages and emails). With Chad, I like coming up with nontraditional things that are also somewhat loving. This year, I got Chad Cards Against Humanity, which is a terrible game (like Apples to Apples, but gross) but I know he’ll love it. We never go to dinner, I’ve told Chad never to buy me roses, and we always wait and get tons of chocolate on clearance after the holiday, rather than before.

    I get the point that we should try to show love everyday, but realistically, most of us need a reason to make those gestures. They don’t need to be grand or expensive, but even just a kiss and a quick, “Happy Valentine’s Day!” can be enough.

  • Reply Tina @ My Shiny Pennies February 11, 2013 at 10:02

    I very much agree that there’s societal pressure surrounding Valentine’s Day. If you’re coupled up, friends and coworkers often expect to hear stories of grand romantic gestures. I’m a cheap date though. My fiance and I don’t exchange presents, and he knows I’m not a fan of flowers. We go out for dinner and that’s pretty much it.

  • Reply krantcents February 11, 2013 at 10:19

    I never liked to anything just because some one say I should. I try to show my wife, I care about her on other days to diminish the importance of a particular day. I also feel, it should be mutual! My wife shows her appreciation for me too. We keep it to token gifts. Cookies for me and a little candy for her. I usually bring in dinner and get a small bouquet of flowers from a supermarket. The whole deal for less than $40.

  • Reply Amanda February 11, 2013 at 11:08

    I don’t mind Valentine’s Day. I think it’s all too easy to get caught up in a daily routine, and while little gestures like having a cup of tea waiting for you when you get up in the morning is lovely, it’s not a BIG gesture and reminder of the strength of your love. Having occasions like Valentine’s Day, birthdays, and anniversaries to properly spend time with each other and connecting over more than the day-to-day can be really important.

  • Reply Cait February 11, 2013 at 12:12

    I absolutely hate Valentine’s Day – always have, always will! I have warned all of my exes against the very thought of buying/doing something, because I would much rather have a surprise planned on any other random day of the year, than on the day Hallmark says it should happen. One of my exes thought I was tricking him: “If I don’t buy something, you’re going to dump me, right?” Umm, no. He didn’t and I kept my word, lol.

  • Reply Catherine February 11, 2013 at 12:38

    Love the new blog layout, very nice! Also it’s weird to be reading a post in my future, it’s still the 10th here and this is posted at the 11th…

    I’m with you, I also hate it, I think it’s totally silly and makes more people feel bad than making people feel good in my opinion.

  • Reply Jose February 11, 2013 at 14:09

    I don’t necessarily hate Valentines Day, but I’m a bit distrustful of any “Holiday” that is based on the commercial aspects of supporting the floral and restaurant industry. Even still, being a guy, I freely admit that I am HORRIBLE at letting those close to me know that I love them and that they are an important part of my life. So these holidays are good in that they give me a sharp kick in the butt as a reminder to do so! Jose

  • Reply Savvy Working Gal February 11, 2013 at 14:23

    I love my husband’s Valentine Day tradition. He makes me this scrumptious molten center chocolate cake. The recipe is here http://bakingbites.com/2006/08/cooking-school-molten-center-chocolate-cakes/# It is the perfect gift – he doesn’t spend a lot of money. I love chocolate and the serving size is small – perfect.

  • Reply Sara February 11, 2013 at 14:34

    I love Valentines Day- if only for the fact that it means chocolate goes on massive sale on the 15th.

    We won’t be doing anything special or out of the ordinary- we never do. Maybe we’ll make a slightly fancier dinner, but we won’t even get to eat it together because I’m in class until 10!

  • Reply Mrs. Pop @ Planting Our Pennies February 12, 2013 at 01:11

    We pretty much ignore Valentine’s Day with the idea that if we need to have a whole day to say we love each other, clearly we’re not saying those things enough the rest of the time.

  • Reply Manda February 12, 2013 at 02:40

    I am largely indifferent to Valentine’s Day. I mean, I like going out to a nice dinner and such as much as the next person, but my boyfriend and I definitely don’t need V-Day as a prompt to do that! If relationships legitimately need V-Day as a reminder to really appreciate what they have, that’s a problem.

  • Reply Budget & the Beach February 12, 2013 at 04:29

    I’m indifferent about the day. What I hate are girls who show off their gifts and brag about what their boyfriends and husbands got them all over social media. It’s to do one thing: make other people feel bad about themselves if they didn’t get something as good, or nothing at all.

  • Reply The Asian Pear February 12, 2013 at 06:35

    I don’t hate V-Day but I don’t love it either. It’s another day for me whether coupled or not. I generally like to spend some time with my significant other but if I can’t, it’s not a big deal and there’s no reason to “make it up” to me. I also don’t expect the usual chocolate or flowers. I am; however, infactuated with February 15th when chocolates will be discounted. 😀

  • Reply mochiandmacarons February 13, 2013 at 12:46

    Every day is Valentine’s day for me. 🙂 At least, that’s how I feel. Why should it just be one day?

  • Reply The Blonde February 14, 2013 at 02:41

    My BF and I have never made a big deal of Valentines, which is something we decided way back when we started dating. Only thing we`ve been doing occasionally is perhaps see a movie, a have a meal out.

  • Reply Suzie February 14, 2013 at 03:24

    I never been a big fan of valentines day. I’ve been in a relationship for 5 years and i never really liked getting flowers and teddy bears. I think it’s a big waste of money. My “teddies” always took up space and just collected dust and flowers die in a few days. I don’t really like going out on Vday because its so crowded. I’m more of a personal type of person. I’m not flashy. I rather eat dinner in peace. I love my husband to death. I’m glad he knows this about me.

  • Reply Revanche February 14, 2013 at 09:31

    I’m indifferent. It doesn’t bother me and I don’t do anything special unless I feel like (and I haven’t felt like it in years!) We went out to dinner yesterday to celebrate a couple big things and PiC joked that it was worth celebrating because, added bonus, we’re NOT doing anything for Valentine’s Day! That made me laugh since I can’t remember when we did feel the need to. Probably in our first year of dating, eons ago?

    But I did enjoy doing nice things for my single friends when I was single, I didn’t mind it then either because I was very comfortable in singledom.

  • Reply Jennifer Lynn February 14, 2013 at 12:28

    I completely concur. Yay! I’m not alone!

  • Reply kara February 15, 2013 at 07:06

    I actually don’t dislike it. I really hate the pressure to make it a huge big stinkin’ deal and I think women who all pissy when their partners don’t go all out and spend tons of money are being childish. But I kind of like the overall idea of a day just to remember to express that you love someone – romantically or otherwise.

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