Valentine's Day

In the run up to today I’ve seen some interesting statistics regarding Valentine’s Day. I know how much credence you should give such stats, but it’s still a benchmark to work from. Apparently, in Britain, we will spend over £6 billion pounds on gifts and treats for our loved ones. The average British male will spend £94 to demonstrate his love. Cheating men will spend three times more on their partners than the average bloke. This last fact highlights what Valentine’s Day means to me, it’s a guilt thing. The reality is that a lot of people who treat their partners shabbily all year, will try and compensate in some small way on this day. It’s a piss poor showing to treat people like that. To me demonstrating your love on one day, or a few more if you include Christmas, birthdays and anniversaries is pretty poor. Then there’s the situation for single people, it’s rammed down their throat that they haven’t actually got a partner to indulge or be indulged by. To me, the magic of Valentine’s Day is when you’re young and you get an anonymous card. The wondering whether it was that girl that you’ve had a crush on for ages, and you sent a card to. Mrs Zilla likes to celebrate the day, and I have no problem with that. We’ll exchange cards and small gifts, have a nice meal. All very pleasant, but to me, not a patch on those magical younger days. It would be nice to still receive an anonymous Valentine, just to show that you are still attractive, and valued. But then that would probably bring more problems at home than the nice feeling it would generate!