Two peers discuss the pros and cons of Valentines Day.
Liam Burnham
Grace Amine
Valentine’s Day is an amazing holiday where everyone can celebrate love while eating chocolate and candy. It’s a very positive and fun day. People love to hate on Valentine’s Day, but if you look at the holiday in a positive light, you will realize that it’s one of the best and most worthwhile holidays to celebrate.
I disagree. I think that it is a corporate holiday, designed by companies to make profit off of the V-Day mentality. It is a day filled with an abundance of negative emotions if you are anything but in a healthy and happy relationship.
Sure, Valentine’s Day is special if you are in a happy relationship. However, Valentine’s Day is what you make it. Even if you’re single, you can still be happy for all the couples in the world. Give yourself some love and don’t be so negative. Also, holidays like Christmas and Easter are corporate, but we let that slide.
Still, if you are sending yourself a love letter in a private setting that is okay. But you have to miss out on all the Val-O-Gram action in school and work environments. And if you ARE in a relationship, then you have to deal with the embarrassing “oohs” and “ahhs” that come with receiving a candy-gram in the middle of class. It’s a lose-lose situation.
In 7th Grade, I got two Val-O-Grams and it was a super cool experience. It made me feel loved and very special. I think that’s something everyone should experience. And even if you don’t get any Val-O-Grams, that’s ok. Most years I don’t, but I find other ways to make me happy. Go buy yourself some candy and have a good time.
Okay… but let’s talk about the taste of conversation hearts for a second. They taste like an actual piece of sidewalk chalk.
That’s definitely not true. Conversation hearts are actually one of the best parts of Valentine’s Day. All the flavors are really artificial but very nostalgic (especially cherry), and reading the dumb messages on them is really funny. I just had some conversation hearts a couple of days ago, and they tasted great. It’s yet another thing to look forward to on Valentine’s Day. If you like Halloween candy, why not like Valentine’s Day candy?
I also think that the jealousy that ensues by other people getting these grand romantic gestures is just a little bit too much sometimes. It’s difficult to not feel like you are missing out on a very special thing and to not have F.O.M.O (Fear Of Missing Out) this time of year.
Call me cruel, but love and jealousy is a part of life. Jealousy is certainly a struggle for many people, but I don’t think you should let your jealousy impede other people’s love. Be positive. And again, give yourself and your friends some love on Valentine’s Day. Also, think of all the good memories you have from elementary school on Valentine’s Day. Remember making a box, writing names on pieces of candy, and passing them out to the rest of the class? Remember all the candy you got? When you connect Valentine’s Day to self-love and memories like this, it begins to become a great holiday. I like to hang out with my friends on Valentine’s Day, but staying home alone or going on a date with someone are all valid too. Valentine’s Day is a versatile holiday that you can celebrate however you want.
I suppose Valentine’s Day isn’t all bad… Even though sometimes it feels like an extremely cheesy day, or it just seems like EVERY couple is going over the top with their PDA. Ultimately, it is a day all about love and showing the people in your life that you care about them. So even though someone might not like the day too much, we can all take this opportunity to tell our friends we love them or do a little extra self-care. Maybe next year is our year…