Two different points of view on Cupid’s day:

That Cynic Nobody Wants to Talk to.

Valentine’s Day, a staple of American culture, is a holiday where mostly young people go out to find love.  To most people, this sounds charming, romantic, and gives them a warm fuzzy feeling inside; however, it usually ends in sadness, regret, and for adults, possibly staring blankly at the bottom of a vodka bottle.  The previous statement especially applies to teenagers, with our impulsive infatuations and the drive to get the girlfriend/boyfriend we ‘need’, only for rejection and disappointment to ensue.  Yet people, especially high school students, are eager to hop on the hype train and buy chocolate and teddy bears for a prospective mate.  Even though dark chocolate is quite persuasive and delicious, it sadly cannot sway a heart forever and is merely an invitation to somebody else into a room that entices you with love. Once inside, the monster attacks with drama and depression.  People most often do not possess the necessary foresight to avoid situations which will, in the end, destroy them and leave them feeling empty inside and useless, which is why it is my obligation to tell you why this holiday is just that, an obligation.

First, let’s look at this from a broad perspective. Valentine’s Day is a holiday, especially in Europe, where somebody is supposed to spend time with a significant other.  This works out for families, where married couples have an excuse to get away from the kids for a night.

Young people, though, often wind up in a panic to find a date, and buy rings from Jared, along with well-crafted sweets to entice anyone they can drag into the local Old Chicago for pizza and mac n’ cheese.

This is why this holiday has been so etched into the American consciousness. Companies saw the foolish scramble to dead ends and sought to make some money.  Advertisements overtook early February television, egging people on by saying, ‘You’ll do better when you buy a gift from us.’  It is an exploitation of the human desire not just to be included in a holiday, to have a similar experience of those around you, but also to be loved, and to be cared for.  So, of course, it was popularized by the applicable companies because the more insecure, lonely, and desperate people there are, the more money these companies make.  But perhaps a more important issue is the actual social experiences Valentine’s Day produces.

The month of Valentine’s Day is a popular month for breakups, and the month following, March, is even higher than the February rate.  These facts alone dismantle the concept that Valentine’s Day is a time when true love is formed.  People suffer as a result of bad decisions and romantic malpractice, and putting faith in another human being (an all around stupid idea) just because it is a certain time of year is most certainly foolish.  When you plan absolutely nothing, when there are zero contingencies, you will always run into a problem and will have no idea on how to handle said person or problem, there wouldn’t even need to be a proverbial ‘nail in the coffin’ for that relationships.  What the statistic and common sense show us is that people cannot uphold relationships with somebody they asked impulsively in a panic or somebody they thought attractive enough for a one night stand, which is how most Valentine’s “romances” begin and end.  Good relationships, whether with friends or partners, rely on common personalities and shared traits.  They rely on, like everything else, a careful picking apart of a human being and how they work.  So unless you plan on dating somebody who never talks, a spontaneous relationship will logically end in failure.

The Only Single Guy with a Positive View On Valentine’s.

Although Aeden and many others point out that Valentine’s Day is a time of people frantically trying to get into relationships to rid themselves of the pain from being labeled as lonely, it’s largely due to a flawed attitude toward the holiday’s significance.

It is perfectly acceptable to be single on Valentine’s Day. This is a detail many fail to realize when preparing for the holiday. If you scramble to hook up with a stranger solely to be with someone you find attractive on the day of love, of course, such a relationship will end in abject failure. This isn’t Europe; American celebrations of Valentine’s Day aren’t limited to your boyfriend or girlfriend. You don’t need to find a pretty girl or a handsome guy the day before Valentine’s Day in order to feel loved and welcomed. Celebrating love is about cherishing existing love, not creating it out of thin air. Gather up those you love, whether they are your close friends or family and celebrate. Sometimes, friends are better than a significant other in every way. Your close friends won’t hang out with you for one day and then never see you again. About half of my Valentine’s Days have been spent on Xbox live with my best friends, and they can make me laugh more than any girl I’ve dated.

Ultimately, Valentine’s Day is essentially created for pre-existing lovers, instead of an artificial relationship to make you feel better for a single day. If you are currently in a committed relationship, Valentine’s Day, along with your anniversary (if you care to remember that), are your special days to yourselves. It’s a time to forget about the chaotic world around you and just focus on the bond between you two. Sean Riley, a student at Air Academy High says that he will be “staring into the beautiful eyes of my Molly” (Molly not being the drug, of course.)

The touch of someone you love when you know that it’s just you guys and no one else is one of the happiest moments one can feel.