BY GILLIAN MCCRACKEN (’17)

While Valentine’s Day can be one of the best days for couples, it can also be the worst. Valentine’s Day used to be known as one of the most romantic days of the year, while now it is more focused on the amount of money people spend on each other and who can out-do others in the number of gifts and merchandise they spend on their significant others.

Valentine’s Day is not even about the day itself, but is more about the build up to it. Girls are focused on the amazing gifts they are going to receive and love the fact that they will receive presents from any guy that puts effort into them. For guys, it is just another reason to spend their own money on another dumb present that they could have bought on any other day. It is completely commercialized, and promotes the mass sales of candy, silly stuffed animals and flowers that will die within the next three days. It is pointless to go out and spend all of your money on things that girls can buy themselves or that they don’t even particularly need.

It is quite pointless to be celebrated as a “holiday” when really there is no point in being important. Especially for the girls who do not have a boyfriend, or the guys who do not have a girlfriend. It is just another day to be reminded that you don’t have anyone to buy you presents, so you feel more alone and get upset for a holiday that is stupid.

The pressure of finding the “perfect gift” for someone is also hard, so if you are planning on celebrating Valentine’s Day with someone, keep it simple. Treat them with love every day, not just on one day of the year that is not even important. Enjoy time with your significant others with love and laughs and have a good day, but do not make it into a commercialized love-fest that will make you upset if your boyfriend doesn’t buy you everything under the sun.