Valentine's Day, Schmalentine's Day

The holiday commercialism in this country is so over the top, it is hard to take sometimes. Besides Christmas, Valentine's Day has to be the next most ridiculously commercialized "holiday" of the year. I put holiday in quotes because it's not really a holiday at all! But somehow, with the help of Hallmark, it's become one of the most recognized and expensive days to observe. And it's totally a woman's day. Men don't really give a rat's @$$ about Valentine's Day, but the pressure is more than most men can bare to ignore! And with the media driven expectations placed upon them, they don't dare. Poor guys. I have to say I kinda feel sorry for the males of the world today.

I'm not in the bitter barn because I am home alone on this romantic of all romantic days. No, not at all. I actually really don't care about Valentine's Day. It's a sweet idea and, of course, I observe it...to a point. But my feeling is that we can recognize our sweeties anytime - and should be recognizing them whenever the mood strikes. And we hope the mood strikes more than one day of the year. Or even two or three if we count birthdays and Christmas.

The amount of implied spending on this day makes my head spin. The giant balloons, expensive bouquets, life size teddy bears and 'romantic' dinners in crowded restaurants with a hundred other couples is all so put on it's not even sincere. If my honey presented me with one of those standard diamond necklaces from Kay Jewelers for $99 I'd smack him. How unimaginative can you get?

My "faux" boyfriend (yes, #8) has his daughter today, and I already knew this in advance. He always has his daughter on Thursdays and because he is working toward becoming "Father of the Year", he would in no way even consider 1. making other arrangements for her or 2. allowing his 14 year old daughter to stay home alone for a few hours. I often question his parenting decisions with this teenage daughter, but based on what I was doing at the same age, I ought not to talk...so I don't.

Although I'm not into the Designated Love Day and the silly overspending and obligations, I wouldn't have minded just hanging out with Eight, watching a movie in front of the fire with some nice wine. That's certainly romantic enough for this cynic.

#8 did make an effort and offered to take me to lunch today. Unfortunately, work is crazy at the moment with a deadline looming and lunches aren't really an option for the next couple of days. I could have slipped off to Ray's or Anthony's Homeport for a nice V-Day lunch, but it would have been rushed and I wouldn't have enjoyed it. I'd have been watching the clock worrying about getting back to the office. That's no way to enjoy a lunch with a date. We could say this lunch was not all about me. Maybe he actually wanted to spend lunch with me as inconvenient as it would have been for him. I suggested we just see each other on the weekend instead. I couldn't really tell over the phone if he was offended or relieved. My guess is that he was relieved. He made the gesture, I opted out saving him the time (he works nowhere near my work), the money (he's a bit of a cheapskate) and yet he looks like he made a romantic attempt.

So there ya go. I got the not-too-mushy (silly joke) card you get a guy you're just dating but not ga ga over, a small token gift and we'll spend time together this weekend. Good enough for this Valentine.