The Worst Holiday Ever

Kanako Kuno

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and with it come a plethora of feelings. Every store is decked out with pinks and reds, chocolate prices have spiked, and suddenly, the meager floral section is abundant. People who never post their significant others are making photo dumps, and every restaurant will be entirely booked this weekend. 

On the one hand, elementary schoolers get free candy. We get to make sweet notes to our friends and family and eat extra dessert without guilt. Valentine's Day gives us an excuse to ask out the people we've been too scared to approach. It lets us pull out our favorite heart sweaters and pink jewelry. It's the only time of year when we can eat those nasty chalky conversation hearts that are secretly kind of delicious.

If you're in a relationship, Valentine's Day is a great day to celebrate your love, to go out for dinner, and to make room for a date night. It's an excuse to buy flowers or to be extra romantic. And this is where Valentine's Day becomes an issue. 

You see, different people have different expectations for such a holiday as this. If you're dating a nonchalant guy, he might think it's overrated and not do anything to celebrate. While you'll probably tell him that's fine, it'll haunt you for two weeks and make his next offense far more grave. When people don't meet our expectations for such a vague challenge as Valentine's Day, it often leads to unrecognized hurt.

On the other hand, if the person you're dating shows too much attention, recognizes you in ways they ordinarily wouldn't, it might make you wonder why they don't treat you with that kind of affection all the time. Why are there only flowers on Valentine's Day, and never just because? It makes you doubt the ordinary circumstances of your relationship. 

Even for couples, the demographic for whom this holiday is specifically designed, Valentine's Day isn't necessarily helpful. For those who aren't in a relationship at all, Valentine's Day is just as bad, if not worse.

I've spent the last several years alone on Valentine's Day. I hype myself up the whole week, telling myself that it'll be fine and it's a made-up holiday and it doesn't really matter. I don't care, right? Then I wake up. I see the chocolate from my parents, cards from my friends, and I smile the whole day, but then I cry a little bit before bed because I have spent yet another Valentine's Day without a Valentine. While there's love all around me, I have gone seventeen Valentine's and counting without that love being romantic. 

This is what makes Valentine's Day the worst holiday ever. 

With its highlight and glorification of romance, it makes those of us who are single feel like trash, regardless of whether we have other people around. Even with the support of friends and family, we're still missing that particular kind of love, and Valentine's Day is a brutal, excluding reminder. 

I'm sure St. Valentine was a nice guy, and I'm sure Hallmark is just trying to make a profit, but this year, like many before, I'm hunkering down to face an onslaught of hearts that are not meant for me. I will eat my chocolate and enjoy it. I will throw a Galentines party with my friends. And maybe, at the end of the night, I will not cry myself to sleep.