It's Valentine's Day! ooOOOOOoooh!

It's Valentine's Day. Do you care? Did you buy something nice for your significant other? Perhaps some candy, or flowers? Maybe you bought a nice card or some expensive jewelry. Or perhaps you, like quite a few other folks, don't celebrate this "holiday" and find the whole thing just annoying as heck. Me, I don't really care.

I have no significant other and so have no need to celebrate the holiday at all. Working in a retail environment this holiday is simply another time of the year when odd things come into the store and fill the shelves. Cute plush animals, with red or pink fur, dancing, singing romantic frogs (I have no clue who would find those romantic), candies in colorful Valentine's Day wrappers, and of course my real candy favorite - M&Ms - in pinks, reds, and whites. The card aisle is filled with the cards in the same bilious colors, and don't get me started on the proliferation of new things for the kiddies.

When I was in school I remember the fun of cutting red construction paper into heart shapes, adding some paper lace, thinking up funny sayings (Glue on a peanut and write "I'm nuts about you!") for the cards you would hand out to your classmates. Now we have Sponge Bob stickers, Spiderman crap, and so on. Nothing fun for the kids. Not really. Just more crap they can whime to their clueless parents about.

But I don't hate Valentine's Day. Face it, the day is a reminder, if nothing else, that your love needs to be shown. Can't remember your Wedding Anniversary? You won't be allowed to forget Valentine's Day - unless you live in a cave with Osama - as the reminders are in every store across the fruited plain. Keep forgetting your Lady's - or Gent's - birthday? Valentine's Day comes with reminders each day. If you forget it you are truly devoid of simple intelligence. Or you have a drinking problem.

So it can be a bit too much, but Valentine's Day is actually harmless. Merely a reminder to love. Love is all you need. Love, love, love. Got it?

Now the Islamists hate Valentine's Day as they claim it promotes licentiousness. The Islamists are deathly afraid that someone somewhere may display affection. Can't have that! Islam is not about Love, but about Death, so in good old Islamist fashion the Kuwaitis are trying to ban it, and hope to suppress all displays of affection. Send them your love, Folks. Love those meanies. It drives them crazier.

For those of you with a loathing of Valentine's Day I give you a partial list from "YesbutNobutYes" called 'Up yours, Cupid!' :

1. Its too commercial. The whole idea of the holiday is to make profits for florists, greeting-card companies, candymakers, jewelers, and restaurants. When the spontaneity is gone, so is the romance.


2. My girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse is too materialistic. That girl you've been dating for a few months expects an engagement ring on Valentine's Day. Your boyfriend thinks a card and a box of candy is going to buy him into your pants. Yes, its contrived, but greedy people are just as much to blame as the gift stores.

3. I give and give, and get nothing in return. For women, this often means you find the most personal, meaningful, and romantic gift possible. The kind of thing you'd like to receive. Except you don't, because he doesn't consider it as important as you do. For men, this means that her expectations are so high you'll never completely please her, no matter what you do.

4. Its too cutesy and sappy and feminine. Mostly guys say this, but they are right. Pink hearts belong in a schoolgirl's room. Valentines Day can send you into a diabetic shock.

Read the list, it's funny. And then remember to give your Sweetie something nice today. Show them that you do love them. And then resolve to show them every day. Why waste the love? It's actually unlimited so spend it!

Happy Valentine's Day!

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For the Ladies we have this nice quiz: Valentine's Day: How Bad's It Gonna Be This Year?

For the Gents we have this quiz:
The Valentines Day Test

From John Hawkins, at Right Wing News, comes "Be My Political Valentine". Wait for the images to load!