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Friday, February 11, 2011

Valentine's Day - More Stress Than It's Worth?

Valentine's Day comes with sometimes unreasonably high expectations. The big question: is it worth it? Let's examine the situation, shall we?

First of all, no matter what way you look at it, the burden seems to fall mostly on men. They are expected to go through the stress of picking out the right flowers, chocolates, jewelery, greeting cards, restaurant for dinner, etc, and what do women have to contribute? Show up and look nice, and maybe arrange for the babysitter. I'm a woman, I'm not denying that it can take a lot of effort to get yourself looking "Valentine's Day Date" good, but ladies, lets admit it: we enjoy the process. Men, on the other hand, as a group tend to hate shopping, and despite how much they think they pay attention, when they're standing in front of a buffet of greeting cards or gold necklaces, they have no clue where to start, and are not entirely sure of what their lady likes. When the moment arrives to present the gift or take her to dinner or whatever else is planned, there is the worry that she won't appreciate all the effort
he went to.

A woman, on the other hand, may decide making a romantic dinner is the way to go, and may go for it even when her cooking skills are (like mine) mediocre at best. There's the stress of the nice table settings and just the right meal and making sure it turns out well. Then their guy sits down to eat it and forgets to compliment her efforts, she swears she'll never go to that kind of effort ever again. (Which she does anyway, of course.)

For those who celebrate February 14 as Singles Awareness Day, you have to endure the overwhelming onslaught of marketing. Aisles of holiday items at every store, tv and radio ads for jewelery, flowers, chocolates... it's enough to make you want to lock yourself in your bedroom with anti-romance movies until it's all over.

So is it worth it? My opinion is this: if you sell greeting cards, chocolate, lingeire, flowers, or other V-day items, yes. Otherwise, no. It's too stressful, too expensive, and it's not really necessary.

This is a generalization, though. I'm sure there are a few people out there who love this holiday. I've never met any, but...

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