No one’s going to judge you if you’re eating chocolate-covered strawberries alone on Valentine’s Day.
Because that’s usually what I do every year (shout out to my dad for always delivering them to my office). Corporate America’s favorite holiday was a lot more entertaining when I was a kid.
In elementary school, my favorite day of the year was Feb. 14. We’d buy Valentines filled with corny quotes and the faces of adored Disney Channel characters and drop them into heart-shaped envelopes on our desks. Also, we skipped lunch and stuffed our faces with chocolate.
The mid 2000s were a much simpler time.
Now, aside from paying bills and trying to make sure we get to work on time every day, we’re expected to scrounge for Valentine’s dates while listening to our coupled co-workers talk about their overly expensive dinner plans.
First of all, how do you afford a $250 meal, a dozen roses, and a box of chocolates? Second of all, can someone please explain to me where the heart shape came from? Because biological hearts look nothing like that.
The couples out there — you know, the ones spending hundreds of dollars on a decent city skyline view and a beet salad — say single people are off the hook on Valentine’s Day. If we weren’t forced into feeling like romance is the only reason for the holiday, I’d say it was true.
We get condemned for being lonely. Who’s lonely? I have my friends, I have rosé, and I have some pretty choice gift cards left over from Christmas. Frankly, I think being single on Valentine’s Day is the best way to do it.
I’ll spend the day eating my co-worker’s homemade gluten-free cookies and my evening getting free drinks in the South End while dancing with my “galentine” Elizabeth. And throughout the week I’ll get enlightened words of advice from my friend, Bridget, claiming “Cookies are better than men,” and “He’s a bologna sandwich that thinks he’s a fig and brie.”
Romance isn’t dead; it just isn’t always the point. Who had the bright idea that the only way to show someone you care for them is to spend your entire paycheck?
Your Valentine doesn’t have to be a significant other and you don’t have to have just one. My parents are my Valentines, as well as my friends, and I don’t limit that admiration to one day a year.
But, as corny as it sounds, the most important Valentine is yourself. Whether it’s getting a pedicure or taking an hour to get a massage, it doesn’t take much to romance yourself.
Or, if you’re feeling a little frisky, Qdoba Mexican grill is offering buy-one-get-one burritos for guests who come in and share a kiss. I don’t know many people who would say no to free food.
Happy Valentine’s Day. To me, from me.
