Valentine’s Day is among us, and depending on your current relationship status it could mean a day filled with exaggerated love or a seemingly endless day of dramatized loneliness. However, whether you are spending the day with your special someone, or with lots of candy and a couple dozen chick flicks, I bet there are some things about Valentine’s Day that you didn’t know.
For example, did you know that the average American will spend $119.67 on gifts for their significant other? This number, however, is not equally distributed among men and women; men on average spend $156, whereas women only spend $85. Looks like us women are expecting a lot from men and not giving quite as much in return, whoops!
If you don’t have anyone to buy a gift for you this year, no problem! Buy one for yourself! You wouldn’t be alone; apparently 15 percent of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentines Day. Nothing sad about that!
If you get sick of sending yourself Valentines, then maybe you should consider going into a career in teaching. Teachers are known to receive the most gifts and cards on Valentines Day. Following closely behind them are children, mothers, wives, and girlfriends.
I bet you didn’t know that in the 1800’s physicians advised their patients to eat chocolate to ease their broken hearts. Based on the chocolate purchases in the days leading up to February 14th it’s obvious we still take this advice very seriously. On average, 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are sold on Valentine’s Day, accumulating to over $1 billion being spent on chocolate in the U.S.
Although we can’t buy them chocolate, our pets are not lacking in Valentines gifts. Pet owners in the U.S. spend around $703 million on their pets! This number is quite low in comparison to gifts shared among people though, which reaches a mind-boggling $18.9 billion.
If Valentine’s Day isn’t a day you enjoy, I bet Single’s Day would be a nice alternative! Unfortunately, we don’t celebrate Single’s Day in America, but if you like the sound of it just hop on a plane to China! China celebrates Single’s Day, or “Bachelors Day,” every November 11th.
So, now that you’ve learned a bunch of random facts, you can celebrate in the best way you see fit! Happy Valentine’s Day!!