My wife and I love each other very much. We also don’t celebrate Valentine’s day, mostly because we agree that it is a shameless money-grab that guilts people into performative “romance.” She finds it very irksome.
We went grocery shopping on Wednesday night, quite on impulse because we were already out and needed to “pick up a few things.” I’m sure everyone knows what that means when it’s almost dinner time.
We forgot it was Valentine’s Day.
The amount of desperate-looking, sweaty men trolling through the store with bundles of flowers was honestly a surprise to us. The endcap aisle right near the main entrance was, of course, filled with heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, there were heart-shaped balloons, stuffed animals. All the things the marketing department convinces you to buy to show your loved one that you love them.
The florist area (also near the entrance) was positively swarmed. We smirked at each other as we passed by it a little while later, only a few straggler items remained. The manager was apologizing to someone because something was out of stock. Then came the second wave, the blue-collar guys that got there as soon as they could after their shift. Men in dirty work clothes scoured the candy aisle for those chalky boxed chocolates of the type that are given as perfunctory gifts “to show you care.”
I never realized how propagandized people are about that day.
True love is not performative. Don’t let a marketing agency tell you that you have to open your wallet to show that you love someone. Often, it involves buying nothing. Your time and care says it much more loudly than an overpriced box of chocolates.
