Call me unromantic...

So… it’s already February and Valentines Day is just around the corner.

You may love the idea of Valentines Day and as a teenager waited eagerly for that card to appear through the letter box on the morning of February 14^th or like me, you may think that it’s a load of over commercialised bullshit.

You’re probably thinking *Oh dear, another bitter singleton…* I’m actually in a very happy relationship and the funny part is… the person I’m with likes Valentines Day.

So why do I (lets say) “dislike” Valentines Day? Well I believe a quick lesson in history may be necessary here…

St. Valentines Day as its official name celebrates “love and affection between intimate companions” (so Wikipedia tells me) on the day of February 14^th. The day stems from between one and three Christian Martyrs who were alive in the Roman era and were called “Valentine”.

The main belief however is that St. Valentine was a priest in Rome who was martyred under the reign of Claudius II. At this point in history, Valentine was caught marrying Christian couples who were being persecuted by Claudius II. Back in the day helping Christians was considered to be a crime and hence why he was arrested and imprisoned. The Emperor for some reason took a liking to Valentine until of course he made a twat of himself and tried to convert the Emperor…. who then condemned him to death. When beating him with clubs and stones didn’t kill him, Valentine was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate and buried on the Flaminian Way on… you guessed it… the 14^th February way back in 269AD.

During his time in imprisonment, Valentine was said to have converted 46 members of a guard’s family to Christianity….

So let us re-cap! In simple terms…. There was once a bloke in Rome who committed a crime by converting many people to Christianity when people of the Christian faith were being persecuted (that is punished solely because of their religion)… Oh and he just so happened to marry some Christian couples while he was at it. So from the facts there is no evidence that this priest had some crazy interest in romance, affection or love… call it what you like.

And from that above *a small obscure link from a roman priest*, the commercial industry has exploited Valentines Day to the point that it is now worth millions of pounds every year. Cards, flowers, chocolates, teddy bears, perfumes, aftershaves, CDs, DVDs, clothes, jewellery, holidays…. I could go on but I won’t bore you. I even saw an article on “What to Buy for Valentines Day”. Amongst the other ridiculously priced items I was most shocked to see an Ipad in the list! I mean come on… an Ipad for Valentines Day. Seriously? Get.Real.

The articles that really make me laugh are the ones that “explain” to either male or female “How to act” on Valentines Day around your partner… and my personal favourite “What to wear”. I think I know how to dress myself and look nice for my boyfriend thanks.

And honestly… Do the public seriously not know “how to act” around their partner just because it’s Valentines Day? … Be nice to each other. Show your partner affection. Offer to help out around the house. Be spontaneous. Ahem… Pardon me but these things should be done on an extremely regular basis. If that scares you, then it’s okay… because the media says you’re only supposed to do these things on Birthdays, Christmases, Anniversaries and Valentines Day! Whaaaa hooooo!!

That leads me to the sickening thought of when people propose on Valentines… I think if this happened to me I would want the ground to swallow me whole and that’s all I have to say on that point.

One of my final points will be… Why for some (mostly women) does this day (excluding birthdays/anniversaries etc) have to be about being spoilt rotten with gifts, days/evenings out and being told “I Love You” more than on a normal day? When there is the rest of the year, *364 perfectly good days* to do these things on? I for one would much rather be surprised on a random day with a gift than on Valentines when it’s almost expected – due to it being shoved down our throats from mid-January onwards.

So what am I doing for Valentines Day this year? Well… despite my obvious dislike towards the day and my absolute refusal to bother celebrating it… I am being taken out for dinner… against my will. Except that was just a lie and it’s not against my will… So call me unromantic but I’m pretending it’s just a normal lovely evening because my boyfriend does like Valentines Day and because I care for him and want to show my affection I will go…. Because of course, to me…. it’s just another day J