10 Reasons Valentine’s Day Is Stupid

I’m not going to try to be spiritual or theological when it comes to Valentines Day. Valentine’s Day is easily one of the dumbest holidays of the year (right up there with Groundhog Day and Arbor Day). I always thought that I just hated Valentine’s Day because I was  single. Now that I’m married though (and my husband’s birthday happens to fall on Valentine’s Day) I realize that I just think it’s a stupid holiday. Here’s why:

1. Crowded Restaurants

Since my husband’s birthday is on Valentine’s Day, I have a whole different reason to hate the Valentine’s Day restaurant crowds. For the last two years, we haven’t gone out on his birthday because we didn’t want to be waiting for a table for forever. Now, the high traffic isn’t just for the actual day, it seems like it lasts for the whole week around the holiday. What a bummer. Now even pizza restaurants are getting into the Valentine’s Day rush by offering heart shaped pizzas. Cross ordering pizza off the list of possibilities.

2. Special Menus

This goes along with the above item list. The first time I ever celebrated my husband’s birthday with him, we went with his parents to a nice seafood restaurant in Portland. Zach happened to really like their clam chowder (he loves clam chowder) so he wanted to get some for his birthday. We got there only to find that the restaurant had a special menu for the holiday and there was no clam chowder included. Bummer.

3. Overpriced Flowers

This might be the greatest outrage of all. I’ve seen roses for like $50. Come back the next day and they’re $20. What a rip off. It’s not like the flowers last either. Flowers die. It’s a fact. What a waste of money.

4. Extra Commercials

This time of year, there’s another push for jewelry. This is annoying because we just got over the Christmas rush and here we are again, getting jewelry ads pushed in our face 24/7. How many Jared and Kay commercials can one person be expected to endure???

5. The Worst Cards

Have you looked at cards lately? They all suck and not just for Valentine’s Day. I haven’t found one in a long time that I didn’t think was either overly sentimentally, cliché, or just downright dumb. We should all just stick to the cheesy, pun-filled cartoon ones you give as a kid. They’re at least fun.

6. Dating Pressures

If you happen to start dating someone right before Valentine’s Day, it puts extra pressure on your relationship. Should you do something special? How fancy should it be? If someone asks you out right before Valentine’s Day, are they just trying to not be a loser without a date for the holiday? All of this is stupid and totally unnecessary.

7. Social Media Comparisons

Now, we can look at see what everyone else is doing for Valentine’s Day, which can make us feel like we should have done more. You see that your college friend’s sister’s husband’s cousin took his girlfriend on a romantic treasure hunt around the city. Your hair girl’s mom and husband went on a cruise. Why didn’t we do something more like that? The comparison game is never a good idea, but it’s hard to avoid when everyone posts what they did for the holiday.

8. It’s Not Fun

I don’t even get why people who are dating or married would want to celebrate Valentine’s Day. As shown above, there’s really nothing fun about it. I guess it can be a good excuse to go out on a date, but then you have to deal with the crowds and the special menus. Maybe it could be a good reminder to be thankful for your significant other, but there are a ton of more fun ways we could do that.

9. Making People Feel Alone

This is by far my biggest problem with this holiday. As a culture, we’ve made it such a big deal that if you aren’t doing anything, you can feel like a loser, hence it’s alternate title, “Single Awareness Day.”. I know I felt that way when I was single. I didn’t even want to do anything cheesy or big, I just wanted to have the option to do anything with someone special. When you’re single, the passing of each Valentine’s Day can just be a reminder that you’re still alone.

10. The Basis for the Holiday is Martyrdom, Which Is Not Romantic

Do you know who St. Valentine is? He was a priest that was martyred in the early days of the church (269). We don’t know a ton about him, except when he died. We do know that he was martyred for, among other things, marrying Christian couples, hence the love connection. Still, we’re celebrating the day he was brutally murdered by a Roman Emperor, not exactly romantic.

 

Alright, that’s my rant. If there’s anything else you would like to add to the list, add it to the comments below.

 

I will admit though, there’s one thing I actually like about Valentine’s Day: CANDY!!!! Especially when you get that candy super cheap on February 15^th.Reeses Hearts, here I come!

 

 

Photo by Johnny Brown on Unsplash