A rose is a rose is a rose: An examination of Valentine's Day

Valentine's day is notorious for being the "feel-like-shit-about-yourself-and-eat-buckets-of-chocolate" holiday. Granted, it kinda implies that if you're single, you suck. What fun. I've been single for for more Valentine's Days than I care to admit, so I've never been fond of the Hallmark Holiday. Sure, in elementary school it was an excuse to pierce ourselves with scissors and eat glue exhibit creativity, but once you hit the ripe age of twelve, it becomes a "who likes who" deal. Even when you're in a relationship, you either talk about how over V-Day you are, or how pressured you feel because roses and anything above Hershey's chocolate is fucking expensive.

I hear ya'. And I'm aware how laughable it is how our consumerist society believes we can justify our love through material goods. Last year I had this boyfriend, right? Let's call him El Diablo. So El Diablo lived a whole town outside of State College, which, to us State-College-ites, feels like countries away. So because he may as well have lived in Timbuktu, and neither of us believed in the art of complex texting conversations, we didn't see each other much. Because Skype would just be too easy, wouldn't it? So anyway. I had it in my head that El Diablo could redeem himself for his lack of communication through a bunch of fluffy affirmations and calories. Not only that, but I was also convinced that February 13th was the 14th. So when the evening came and went and I didn't get any V-Cards (valentine's cards you silly person, get your mind out of the gutter), I was ready to storm over to his house and be all "you little shithead, you didn't aggressively pour your love all over me and spend way too much money!"

Let's just say I felt a little stupid when, the next day, El Diablo showed up with a lovely little bouquet and some peppermint bark, and I was one of THOSE PEOPLE with the pesky little facebook statuses that go something like "I have the best bf in the worldddddddddd <3 <3...lovers 4 lifee," or something equally inappropriate.

The thing is, this was a nice act of generosity and all, but it's not some marked "tell-all" about a relationship. If the best boyfriend in the world gains that status just by shelling out some cash at Wal-Mart, well then, you're all a bunch of winners. Gifts are nice. Chocolate is always appreciated. But Valentine's Day is not some grand indicator of your loneliness/happiness in relationship scale. It's a day based on exclusivity: who's having sex, who's not. Who's got her flower (mind. gutter. out), who's been left empty handed.

So that being said, I don't take V-Day too seriously. In the past, I've had a bit of disdain for it. But today, I had quite an experience that showed the lovely inclusivity that love should be.

So I was in English class, right? We were in the midst of discussing some Freud and theories and all that jazz, when this guy walks in ten minutes late. The prof gave him a noticeable eye-roll, but he had that air of confidence that said "it's cool, it's all good." He slid into his seat after a smooth "how's it going," only to walk straight back to the podium, claim how bad he felt about being late, and stride out the door. By this point the rest of the class was looking at each other like "da fuq?" like English majors tend to say. The kid waltzed back in with a bouquet of pink roses and handed one out to everyone in the class. I hadn't said a word to this guy, but the fact that I was included in the rose giving made my day. It's sitting right next to my computer as we speak.

It's the random acts of kindness to everyone that make this silly little holiday special. It doesn't have to be a competition, rather, an admiration of people, single or not.

Namaste.