The Commercialised Day of the Love Giving Obligation

After successfully securing my solitude for another year I feel, more than ever, to be qualified to deliver this post to you tonight. For the purposes of the this article you should strive to think of me as a half-eaten Kit-Kat or an odd sock because it will help you put it in some kind of context. This time last year (less one day) I wrote a similar post lambasting the commercialised day of the love giving obligation that is Valentine's day. Here I am again, a year on, still with a bee in my bonnet about it. The only issue is that I'm tired of digging my heels into things all of the time so the master-plan for this week is to give both sides of this story. Tonight's post is going to be all about the heel pressure and then Wednesday's post should ease it off somewhat - it's only fair. The only caveat that I serve to you about this whole thing is that this post promises to be much like a red rose: beautiful to some but prickly to others. Look away now if you think you're in love.

I love Christmas. I think that is is one of the best holidays that we have and the only one that really brings everyone you care about together. How people can dislike it (and there are some out there) and take the 'bah humbug!' approach I'll never know. I've always wondered what that phrase actually means and after a simple Google search my thirst for such knowledge has been quenched. 'Bah' means to disapprove of something and 'humbug' (no it's not everyone's favourite minty treat) means 'fraudulent or fake'. And so after that limited research (and my goodness doesn't it show sometimes in this blog) I say this to Valentine's Day: 'Bah humbug!'. Not only do I disapprove of the whole thing but I also think that it's a farce - a word for which I have a lot of appreciation by the way.

Through sickly and less than subtle advertising that plays on the emotions of the masses, large money-making machines (or 'companies' to you and I) have created the illusion of love for this one day every year. Not only will many children be conceived tomorrow evening (unplanned of course) there will be even more 'broken hearts' by this time next year as a result of it all. In some ways I think of it as a bit of a disease: the fact that people feel like they have to say 'I love you' on the 14th of February every year. Valentine's day is a unique disease as it is dressed up as a teddy bear when in fact is it a hungry polar bear chasing down (and eventually catching) an endangered seal.

You can let your breath out now; it's going to get a bit better from here on.

As you can tell I'm not a huge fan but that might be to do with the fact that I'm sitting here on Valentine's eve (yes, I've joined in on the charade a little there) on my own with nothing but a Soreen loaf and a cold cup of coffee for company. That's one of the main reasons why I've decided to write about both sides of this (overpriced) coin this week. I'm not as cold-hearted as I make out despite evidence to the contrary. I'm a passionate person and I hope to be able to show that to you all on Wednesday.

I worry for the human race when this day comes around on the calendar every year. I hear the squeal of pain as millions of wallets are wedged open again to buy gifts that will barely be of any interest in a week's time. I can almost feel people cringing as another person opens a Valentine's card to see something about roses and how they are red and violets aren't. I do envy people that are genuinely happy in a relationship because I sometimes think I might quite like it. However, when Valentine's day is the excuse that people need to tell someone how they feel then I swiftly become delighted about being a singleton all over again. I wrote about this all last year but it still frustrates me. All that is happening, in my humble opinion, is that rich people are being made richer in their respective boardrooms before heading home to their under-satisfied partners back at the mansion - how very cynical I've become.

All is not lost for me though because I might be able to redeem myself on Wednesday. Expect big love and possibly even some poetry to boot.  All that is left for me to say about tomorrow is that I hope you have a great time if you're doing something with a loved one and, to quote myself from last year:

"If you are going to tell someone you love them...then at least mean it and don't just litter them with pointless gifts - and then tell them again [on Wednesday] because that way they might believe you".

Thanks for reading and happy Monday!

Martin