I have never been huge on Valentine’s Day. I never really understood the purpose of celebrating it. My perception of Valentine’s Day was that it was a holiday that was once supposed to celebrate love or romance, but as of the 21st century, was simply a business opportunity; stores stock their shelves with cards and bears to sell, flower shops get busy, chocolatier and jewellery businesses market like crazy, and restaurants—in my educated opinion—monopolized on the profitization of this lovely holiday. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t really get Valentine’s Day, but I still loved it because it made me so much money.
As a server at a popular spot in the city, I worked in the busiest business at this time of year, and I exploited this day too. I always made sure to ask for the Valentine’s Day shift because I knew that the other servers wanted it off to spend with their significant other. This meant more tables and more tips for me. Everyone is happy on Valentine’s Day, and when people are happy, they spend more money—or they just want to impress their date by giving the server a sizable tip. Either way, I wasn’t complaining. Afterwards, I would buy myself some leftover flowers and chocolate when they went on sale the next day with my ridiculous amount of tip money. So, Valentine’s Day for me was always just an opportunity to turn a profit—until this year.
Now I’m with someone that actually wants to spend Valentine’s Day with me, which is a weird new experience for me. He told me he wanted to make sure I have the best Valentine’s Day of my life. When I asked him what we were going to be doing, he said, “You don’t have to worry about that.”
Usually that would bother me. As a mega-feminist and control-freak, I wanted to demand to know what will happen, especially as someone who hasn’t celebrated it before. On top of believing Valentine’s Day was a marketing sham, I thought it was stupid to actually celebrate. To me it felt like the one night on which every couple’s relationship was perfect just because it was February 14th.
But being with a man that actually cares to make me happy, and wants to be romantic for me, I realize that I was being spiteful. Possibly jealous. To those of you that hate on couples on Valentine’s Day like I did: it’s not stupid to them, and it’s not a scam to them. To two people that truly love and admire one another, this day is just a way to show that love and admiration.
So I’m happy that for the first time, I will be celebrating Valentine’s Day, and it is with someone who is worth it.