For the last couple months, the Sunday paper- one of my few indulgences- has been covered with advertisements for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas, New Year's, Presidents' Day, and, most recently, the Super Bowl. The coupons all focus on whatever holiday it is, and all the gimmicks that accompany it. So it really should not have been a surprise to open today's paper and find it chock-full of red and pink hearts, and exhortations to buy buy buy everything that your significant other supposedly has had their heart set on, but has not received within the last few frenzied months of consumerism.
I realize that, as a starving student who has acclimated to minimalism, my views of random purchasing aren't very common, but it just seems a little overdone to me. The average price of a bouquet of roses and a box of chocolate around here comes to roughly $30-40. A dinner out at a nice restaurant for two comes to roughly $40-60. Even ignoring the fact that either of those options can buy a week's worth of groceries, if you're careful, why on earth would anyone want to further compound the issue by buying a $40 "Be My Valentine" red blender that will probably not match the rest of the kitchen décor, and certainly doesn't fit under any definition of "romantic" that I've ever come across?
Here's my logic on this one: Let's just say that finances are not an issue for you, and if you really wanted to, you could buy each other stuff and go out to dinner etc. You've even managed to book a reservation at a nice restaurant somewhere, a challenge in and of itself. Now, regardless of how hectic of a day you've both had, you have to get dressed up, go out in the cold, deal with what is probably a relatively loud, overbooked restaurant, eat a decent but overpriced meal, and make your way back home again. All told, an expensive couple hours of stress, just because societal expectations told you you should.
"Oh Lyssa, you're just being cynical," I hear you say. No, I wouldn't really call it cynical, perhaps just practical. I've never been big on people buying me things, and it seems like gestures made in the name of "I have to, because it's x holiday" lose some amount of credibility. When I was young, my family focussed on home-made gifts and cards, and I honestly had a great time doing so. While my older sister definitely had the beauty of perfectionism down, and my younger had an artsy flair that I could never match, I still had fun learning how to make easter baskets out of construction paper and different ways of folding printer paper to make cards for everyone. This is not to say that I always wanted to do it, but I put the time and effort in, and at least the person knew that I cared enough about them to personalize it.
So what are my plans for V-day? Pretty much the same as any other Tuesday this semester. Homework in the morning, school in the afternoon (big Russian test, too, so no lazing about for me!), dinner somewhere inexpensive and healthy while doing crossword puzzles, then dance class in the evening. I've already discussed it with my gentleman, and he'll be getting a hi-five and a hug over the phone, and while it would be cool to get the same back, it might just end up that I make him laugh. Which is good enough for me. I know I'm loved even without a Valentine's Day pair of socks. Cheers!
I realize that, as a starving student who has acclimated to minimalism, my views of random purchasing aren't very common, but it just seems a little overdone to me. The average price of a bouquet of roses and a box of chocolate around here comes to roughly $30-40. A dinner out at a nice restaurant for two comes to roughly $40-60. Even ignoring the fact that either of those options can buy a week's worth of groceries, if you're careful, why on earth would anyone want to further compound the issue by buying a $40 "Be My Valentine" red blender that will probably not match the rest of the kitchen décor, and certainly doesn't fit under any definition of "romantic" that I've ever come across?
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| This store is refusing to sell vacuums for the week before V-day. Hilarious. |
Here's my logic on this one: Let's just say that finances are not an issue for you, and if you really wanted to, you could buy each other stuff and go out to dinner etc. You've even managed to book a reservation at a nice restaurant somewhere, a challenge in and of itself. Now, regardless of how hectic of a day you've both had, you have to get dressed up, go out in the cold, deal with what is probably a relatively loud, overbooked restaurant, eat a decent but overpriced meal, and make your way back home again. All told, an expensive couple hours of stress, just because societal expectations told you you should.
"Oh Lyssa, you're just being cynical," I hear you say. No, I wouldn't really call it cynical, perhaps just practical. I've never been big on people buying me things, and it seems like gestures made in the name of "I have to, because it's x holiday" lose some amount of credibility. When I was young, my family focussed on home-made gifts and cards, and I honestly had a great time doing so. While my older sister definitely had the beauty of perfectionism down, and my younger had an artsy flair that I could never match, I still had fun learning how to make easter baskets out of construction paper and different ways of folding printer paper to make cards for everyone. This is not to say that I always wanted to do it, but I put the time and effort in, and at least the person knew that I cared enough about them to personalize it.
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| Cost: construction paper, time, and love. |
So what are my plans for V-day? Pretty much the same as any other Tuesday this semester. Homework in the morning, school in the afternoon (big Russian test, too, so no lazing about for me!), dinner somewhere inexpensive and healthy while doing crossword puzzles, then dance class in the evening. I've already discussed it with my gentleman, and he'll be getting a hi-five and a hug over the phone, and while it would be cool to get the same back, it might just end up that I make him laugh. Which is good enough for me. I know I'm loved even without a Valentine's Day pair of socks. Cheers!
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