Before I dive into the barrel of fun that is Civl Procedure, I thought I would go ahead and mention why I hate the 'holiday' in which we find ourselves today. THL has already done a good job of bringing up the personal heartbreak stuff (of which I have no stories, thank Quantum Mechanics), and Heidi has mentioned some additional personal stuff related to her personal tastes. I agree with her, but there's a little more I've got to say.
I dislike Valentine's Day, and to me it is a little microcosm of our entire culture and how we look at relationships. And I don't think our culture is entirely healthy in this regard. Valentine's Day sort of hilights that.
I won't go into the whole tirade about the influence of gender roles and all, mainly because it's just background and I don't have the time. I will say that in our society, you're a freak if you're not in a relationship. This is reflected in movies, TV, advertising, you name it. Yet, somehow, these same outlets rarely actually show what kind of real struggles take place in a relationship. An entire movie, for example, generally consists of, at least in a subplot, a couple getting together. They finally do, kiss, and the movie ends. This is particularly apparent in 'romantic comedies.'
First of all, this shows the uniformity of relationships and puts pressure on all viewers to follow along. Second, it seldom shows a truly realistic picture of what relationships are all about, how hard they are and how much work it takes to keep one going.
Not that there aren't exceptions, but they're memorable precisely because they're the exceptions.
Another issue was brought up in Heidi's comments, namely that relationships should be valued all year around. Having a specially designated day of love is just plain silly. If you're in a relationship, then I think it means more to have gifts, dinner, and a romantic evening on a random day than one predesignated.
And if that never happens, well, sounds like that relationship has bigger problems - if and only if one/both parties wish that it would.
So that's it. Valentine's Day is a silly holiday, to me, and congratulations to all the people who choose single in spite of all the pressure. You're my peeps.
And I hope that everyone doing something special today has a good time, but how about pulling the same thing out on April 3, or August 10?
* I must give credit to my appellate advocacy partner, AF, for this little nickname; apparently it comes from a friend of hers.
I've heard Single Awareness Day for years.. One of my friends from Utah has been saying it for at least 6 years... I think it's just one of those sayings that everyone in our generation coined.
I'm afraid I don't get out much, so I haven't heard it.