Happy Valentine's Day?

Today is February 14th, also known as Valentine's Day. I don't actually know the real significance or history behind this day, but some how it has been made into this huge deal about giving jewelry, flowers, and expensive gifts to your "Valentine". I've gotten plenty of flowers, jewelry and semi-expensive gifts from previous valentines, but this year I decided that I don't want any of that. What is the point of Valentine's Day? It seems to me that it has become a way to show how much you love or care about someone by the amount of money you spend. I'm broke. My valentine is broke. But we are happy. I don't need a Tiffany's necklace or a dozen roses to know how he feels about me.

My valentine and I decided to go out to dinner last night instead of tonight because we didn't want to wait for 2 hours to eat. As we were driving to the restaurant, I had a revelation. I turned to him and said, "I want to go to Chick-fil-A." And his response was, "But we're supposed to go somewhere nice to celebrate Valentine's Day." It finally hit me that spending $100 on dinner and then gifts isn't practical or necessary. Valentine's Day should be about who you're with, not where you go. I enjoyed every minute of my Chick-fil-A dinner, screaming kids running around and all. And if you're single, which I have been for a majority of my life, today shouldn't be a miserable, depressing day. Today is what you make it. Hell, its just another Saturday. One of my favorite sayings goes something like this, "You have to love yourself first before you can love anyone else." Buy yourself chocolate today. Get some wine and celebrate being young and having great friends. Personally, that sounds like a lot less stress than worrying about what to buy for your Valentine or figuring out where to eat. I don't hate Valentine's Day. I am all about spreading the love around and being happy with someone. What I don't agree with is making today a huge production and using material things to show how someone how you feel.