Tomorrow is D-Day for coupled men everywhere: Valentine’s Day. That means men throughout the world have one chance to get it right. They either insure that their significant other is happy and satisfied on this day, or walk the surface of the earth ashamed and forever alone.
But why do men and women put themselves through the heartache of flower-shops, candy stores and card aisles every year?
Like many things in our culture: Blame the Romans! There were two Romans in history who shared the name Valentine. It was these two men that helped launch the legends that surround the day right up to modern times. One of these legends revolves around Saint Valentine being imprisoned by the Roman emperor Claudius. Before being executed by Claudius for his religious beliefs, Valentine cured his jailer’s daughter of blindness. His letter to her was signed “Your Valentine.
Whether this narrative actually occurred or not remains to be seen but literary writers of the middle-ages and the Renaissance picked up on the association tween the saint and love.
Chaucer wrote in 1382:
“For this was on St. Valentine’s Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate.”
Hundred’s of years later William Shakespeare’s Ophelia from Hamlet bemuses:
“To-morrow is Saint Valentine’s day,
All in the morning betime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.”
Fast-forward a few hundred years to 19th century England and you have the start of mass-produced Valentine cards. To some loveless curmudgeons Valentine’s Day is considered a “Hallmark Holiday” because of the day’s association with the greeting card industry.
In modern times the tradition of giving your love a fancy greeting card has evolved into the giving of chocolates and jewelry.
For single people, lone wolves and other misanthropes, the holiday can be looked down-upon with disgust as couples flaunt their undying love for one another by engaging in orgiastic feasts of capitalism. The good news is, if you are single, you don’t have to buy anyone anything and should probably take yourself out to dinner.
But if you are half of the part of something called a “couple” it is best to engage in this holiday of spending and to celebrate you and your mate’s love’ for one other by purchasing a $5 folded piece of paper from your local card-shop.
