Yes, but all those holidays don't force you to spend money on stuff that the week before was half the price.
Yeah, because there are no such trends in things like Christmas trees. And champagne totally doesn't cost more on December 31.
I don't understand the hate. No one bitches about obligations for NYE or Mardi Gras or whatever, and they don't bitch about birthdays... I wonder if it's more insecurity about not living up to expectations. Whatever. I like seeing my husband smile because I did something for him. Whether that's because it's a holiday, or it's because I was out and about and saw something and thought of him, I don't care. I brought a smile to his face, and I find that a wonderful thing.
On the flipside, for the single or economically minded among us, February 15th is a great moment to pick up cheap gourmet food at the local deli.
You honestly don't see a difference between days of mass celebration for the country/a religion and having society dictate the day you are extra special to your loved one? Days like Thanksgiving and July 4 are necessary for mass gatherings, they just flat out wouldn't happen without those days set aside. I think the idea of mothers/fathers day is pretty lame, but I see my parents pretty regularly, I understand some people probably would never talk to their parents without it. Either way these holidays are more geared towards celebrating with people you don't see that often. But Valentine's Day is basically society giving you a box to check for being romantic with the most important person in your life, presumably the one person you maintain constant contact with, on a day of their choosing. Don't get me wrong, all holidays have a level of commercial exploitation, but something about being told I need to take my gf/bf/husband/wife out to dinner on THIS day seems much more intrusive.
I agree wholeheartedly. I've always noticed that when it comes to the major holidays, there's always one that someone hates because they either pretend that the concept morally offends them for commercializing whatever value the holiday represents or hates the pressures of the high expectations it comes with. But, that logic can be applied to every other holiday and it's always just the one or two that they get all upset about. I think it says a lot about them, especially their insecurities. To use myself for example, my least favorite holiday is Thanksgiving because I'm sensitive about not being able to meet the expectations since the focus is all about family. But I like almost every other holiday because I either can easily meet the expectation or don't care about meeting it. The only holiday this theory doesn't really work for is Halloween. I don't think not liking Halloween reveals anything too deep. But, yeah, I find it entertaining how every year all of a sudden guys care about standing up to the man about being pressured about how to spend their money. You know what else is commercialized and disproportionately amped up in order for people to spend and make more money? Everything. Not even every other holiday, but every other thing. I didn't hear any of y'all preaching those values during the Super Bowl, for example. But it's okay, because it's something you care about. Then, a week later when you might be expected to do something for someone else to acknowledge something they care about that's equally meaningless you suddenly decide you care about the evils of capitalism. Bitch please.
The only real issue with VDay is if you're in a situaton where she really wants something and you're not delivering. Like...a vacation, or Jewelry or a proposal. Say if a guy has been dating a girl for 3 years, and she has a friend that's been dating a guy for 3 years, if that other guy brings out the big guns and the first guy doesn't, chances are his girl may not be as happy, because she's comparing the efforts of the two guys. That's the primary issue. I think everything else is a smokescreen tied to the insecurity of being benchmarked. The commercialization/capitalization shit is retarded, everyone works, everyone has a job, because everything costs and/or makes money.
And Christmas is society telling me that I need to buy gifts for my friends and family on THAT DAY. What the fuck, Christmas? You big old jolly asshole of a holiday! How intrusive! And feeling the need to treat someone special, just because they were born on THAT DAY? What the fuck?
To be honest, I sort of resent the expectation of gifts at Christmas, too. My family tones is down and does a secret santa thing because buying gifts for so many people is friggin expensive (and how can every single one of your 25 gifts be special and well thought out?). In years to come we might nix that part entirely. We just like being together, and I can groove with that on any holiday.
That's all fine and good, but let's not pretend that Valentine's Day is the only time we do things like this. It's just the only time we do it for luuuuuurve. As Frank mentioned, add to the above post Mother's Day and Father's Day. SHE'S MY MOTHER ALL YEAR, WHAT'S UP WITH THIS? We theoretically could send our mother's flowers literally any day. Maybe you're regularly the king of romance and the idea of a fancy/home-cooked dinner, a nice present, some good sexing, etc. is all in a good day's work for you the other 364 days a year. If so, then doing it on February 14 as well should be not that big of a deal, since it's a day like any other. If not, well, that's what the day is for.
The only holiday I truly despise is Christmas. And not in a hipster-ish looking-down-my-nose-at-the-commercialization-of-this-special-day fashion, but more of a spend-all-my-effort-to-not-curl-into-a-ball-and-cry-and/or-find-a-shotgun-to-eat fashion. I don't even completely know why Christmas affects me like this, but suffice it to say that it's the one holiday that literally makes me want to kill myself. Fucking hate that time of year. From a more intellectual standpoint, the only thing I hate about Christmas and Valentine's Day are jewelry ads. Is there anything more obnoxious than jewelry ads? I wish Shane was giving me his spiel in my presence so I could punch him right in the mouth.
So any females get shit from people for shunning the holiday? At Jägerette's last job the women were way into Valentines day, and they would all get shit delivered to the office, and couldn't understand when she got nothing as she didn't care because she didn't come from a culture that cared about the holiday. Several women were telling her at lunch one day that "I didn't really love her, because even if she didn't want anything it was 'my job as a man' to get her stuff to show I loved her. 2 of them are now divorced.
ok, so... the name of the show is "Sex and the Animals" and some creepy guy is holding a tiger cub in the promo picture. Tigers may be my favorite animal... but maybe not quite to the degree of that guy.