The whole Valentine's Day thing

I just got forwarded this e-mail with the perfect (though not most politically correct) valentine cartoon to illustrate one of my points.


So, you already know that I'm all about the Christmas holiday and I'm certainly in the "go Christmas" club, but I think I may also be in the "NO Valentine's day" club. Well, perhaps not "NO" in the sense that it shouldn't exist, but just in the sense that it annoys me.
Well, today is the fourth anniversary of my boyfriend and I dating. Ya, he reminded me this morning with his text, which of course I replied saying, "aww, you beat me to it..." but really, had no idea. Well, I do know that it's somewhere around valentine's day, but that's about as close as I get. I don't tend to have a good memory for dates and events, in fact, I still rely on my mom to call me two days before her birthday each year and remind me that it is in two days, so I should tell her happy birthday when I call. Thank goodness for that, it makes me feel a little less retarded, and keeps her on her toes in that she knows she still has one thing each year that I completely rely on her for (ya know, besides the whole life, support, and any form of money I have thing).
As far as Valentine's day. I feel as though, when younger, it was just death with the whole who got a carnation thing at school, and sort of set out in neon lights the losers (like myself) who had NONE. In fact, others must feel much the same, as they have now started to call it "Single's Awareness Day." At this point, it seems it has become a time that those in relationships are forced to say I love you (even if not forced, it is assumed it is forced because of the stupid day), and those not in them to look at it like a meat market (ya, everybody at the single's awareness party is now a piece of meat). Either way you look at it, the holiday is a joke. Shouldn't we just show our love everyday and remove the pressures of having a "surprise" or "gift" from our loved ones. And, if not A loved one, just make our appreciation to ALL of our loved ones known (no, not in a cheating sense, in a family sense. get your minds out of the gutter). That way, no one feels like a loser, those who honestly are saying I love you will be taken seriously, and no one will have to spend a dime. In fact, I'm all about the cards. A few words (or in my case a lot of them) will do the perfect trick. Let me know how you feel. That's all I ask. That's how I feel about the whole facade of Valentine's Day