So here we are on another February 14 celebrating that most beloved of holidays, VD ... errr Valentine's Day. Of course, it's just Wednesday for me, being a guy who never got into the holiday and spent most of them alone anyway. Well, except for the one or two prior to getting married that were spent with some soul-sucking succubus, but that's a different story for a different day.
Yes, today is the day that we all buy little pink things for our lovely ladies (or men, if that is your thing). Today we give all the little candy hearts, chocolate, dead flowers, balloons, stuffed animals and thin lacey things (or thin blonde things). Personally, I never had a use for today. It seems to be yet another overblown day promoted by the greeting card cartels to increase their bottom line and market share with little bits of dead tree professing in aborted poetry and prose our love or at least strong feelings for a stalking victim or secret lover or Mom.
I thought I would share a little history of the day though, to put things into perspective. You can get a complete history by visiting the amazing tome of all knowledge, Wikipedia.
First of all, there was no Saint Valentine. There were several of them. They were all martyrs celebrated in ancient Rome and then by the Roman Catholic Church until Hallmark took it over in the 60s by declaring that all men shall spend their first two weeks salary in February every year on baubles and trinkets and greeting cards.
Sadly, very little is actually known about The Saints Valentine. Most of what we think we know was made up by drunkards, historians who seemed to think that the day was actually created by the Christian Church to wipe out a Roman holiday, and Geoffrey Chaucer who gave us the great anthology known as the Canterbury Tales, which I think you should all take a bit of time to read. I highly recommend the Miller's Tale.
You can read a lot more about VD at the St. Valentine Wikipedia Entry but there really isn't much more to the story. No one knows for sure who the is or was, no one really is sure how he died. It is said that he was hanged, but there is not accurate record depicting that any of that ever really happened. There just happens to be a few rotting stiffs in and around Rome named Valentinus and that sounded like a good name for a Holiday. Gotta love those Roman Holidays!
So now that there is some history, there really isn't too much more to the day. Dana got me something that I refused to open until tonight because I think it's just wrong to open a gift early (other than maybe Christmas Eve). I did not get her anything, but I'll change that on the way home from work.
What I really dislike about the day is that everyone is made to feel that if they don't go out and get their S.O.s something special and pretty that they really don't love their S.O.s. I think its just absurd that there has to be a specific day to celebrate love. Does this mean we get to hate each other the other 364 days of the year? Personally, I am all for that. Sounds like a brilliant time.
Das Aggregator!
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