(no subject)

[jack]

Last year I posted http://cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com/296126.html. The response was sufficiently positive I felt I should repost a slightly cut down version here.

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Every year there's a bit of a blat-blat about valentines day, with some people (and all advertising) going over the top, many people feeling pissed off, many people justifying it.

Is it worth celebrating valentines? Certainly. Love is a great thing, we have days to celebrate all sorts of crap, why not this?

Is there a good reason people get annoyed? Certainly. The problem isn't people who celebrate themselves, but a lot of advertising suggesting you have to.

Should we cancel valentines? I don't think so. Do we cancel Christmas to avoid upsetting people with no families? Do we cancel New Years to avoid upsetting people who can't drink? Do we cancel Easter or Ramadan to avoid upsetting people of different or no religion? Do we cancel sysadmin appreciation day because 99% of the population think it's stupid? All (except the last) are too noticeable to simply ignore. But we do make an effort to reach out to people without families on Christmas, etc.

Why not tomorrow take the opportunity to think of people you love in different ways? Is there anyone you owe a kiss? Have you told your best friend that they are your best friend? Did you ever ring your father up just to say you love him?

OK, I'm being sappy, but I know about 30% of you need some cheering up. Everyone else please continue being sappy or sarcastic as appropriate.

ETA: For that matter, two alternative celebrations have been suggested, too late for this year, but good, in that they're not anti-romantic, but a-romantic, an alternative for people who don't want to complain about romance, but want to do something else:

1. Garlic party day
2. Randomly chop some heads off or burn people on wheels or whatever supposedly happened to supposed St. Valentine.

Comments

[simont]

Some years I do get a bit pissed off about V-day. This year, I don't seem to have done so yet, although I'm still expecting a high probability of something somewhere managing to irritate me on the day itself. Most likely candidate is some widely admired person feeling upset at not being widely admired enough (probably as measured by the number of anonymous valentine posts on LJ communities), which will make me want to get all Four Yorkshiremen on their widely admired arse.

[bugshaw.livejournal.com]

Alternatives: Staggering Brilliant Singles-Only Party?

A friend used to hold one; two of the attendees got married last year :-)

[rjw76]

By the way, I am married and hate it. I resent being told when and how to celebrate something I should be conscious of all year round.

And the pink. Oh, gods, the pink.

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

Is there anyone you owe a kiss?

At least two dozen people, most of whom I am sending cards to. Depressingly many of whom are way too far away; overcoming pathological shyness online first leads to a situation of having friends all over the world, but none here, like unto Tony Hancock.

On Valentine's Day 2002, papersky and zorinth and I landed in Canada, and every year since then we've had an anniversary dinner. Which won't work this year because Z has a girlfriend and they are doing something couply, and because we have been volunteered to host some acquaintances en route from Toronto to Boston for Boskone.

papersky and I have contemplated not saying "I love you" to each other all day as a form of protest against the commercialisation of the day, as we normally say it lots and lots of times.

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

Of course, it's also Sts Cyril and Methodius day, so doing something extra especially European would be appropriate (they're patron saints of Europe).