Valentine's Day: On real holiday's you get a day off from work!

I have never been very fond of Valentines day, and I have some friends who think it’s a ridiculous holiday. Why should it only be one day that we have to recognize the people we love in our lives?

Valentine’s day is the classic ‘Hallmark Holiday’ filled with cards of romance, Hershey's chocolates in heart boxes and stuffed bears with big red bows tied around their necks. The day of recognizing love has turned into huge advertising competition. Instead of simply telling the people you care about that you love them, you may feel pressure from the intense advertisements in the mediums surrounding our daily lives.

People may feel that they need to buy their loved one diamond shaped heart necklaces because ‘every kiss begins with Kay’ may be heard during a television advertisement for Kay Jewelers. Or perhaps, you might want to “Be the ultimate romantic” and “send Valentine’s flowers all week long!” as suggested on flowers.com. I even saw a commercial for a special raspberry mocha drink for Dunkin' Donuts. Their ad said, "A Latte Love is in the Air... Dunkin' Donuts turns up the heat with a raspberry mocha treat just in time for your valentine." As I watched the Valentines day ads on TV I noticed the red, pink and white theme through out most of the ads. Everything was focused on couples, marriages, and people dating. Often times it is usually the man who is buying a woman a gift. This could be suggesting to men that in order to ‘win’ over the woman you are interested you have to make a good impression by buying her a dozen long stem roses, some piece of jewelry, and then perhaps even take her out to dinner.

Has it really come down that what you receive as a gift shows how much you care or your emotions towards someone? In a way it is sad how materialistic the U.S. has become today. Our emotions are shown by buying someone something. It’s the thought that counts, right?