in defense of february 15

(Editor’s Note: technically this was written on February 14, and just posted to the Inter-tubes today—because the writer is a feeble technophobe living in another century, apparently)

not exactly by design, a few of my ex’s have been slipping in and out of my periphery of late—some more dramatically than others. given that the weird sisters haven’t also been making cameos in my life recently, i choose to see this as more coincidence than celestially orchestrated portent. either way, my opinion of today’s holy day/holiday remains unchanged.

i’ve never particularly enjoyed february 14 (or any day in this accursed and frigid month, for that matter), though my reasons now have evolved slightly from those i claimed at the age of 8 (and tend to be unrelated to tiny paper cards). i’m not trying to be a hater today—honest. i’ve just long been a believer that if you truly love someone, you shouldn’t ever need a calendar-dictated reminder that this is so. if you love someone, you ought to be telling them—or, better yet, showing them—this every single day of your life. which is to say: every day is st. valentine’s day.

but mary schmich had a column the other day which highlights how japanese culture takes this idea one step further. they won’t even say “i love you” to one another. in fact, doing so may be an indication that you aren’t really that close to the object of your affection. i have too healthy an appreciation for the power of language to really get on board with this idea, but i’m right there with the intent. your deeds should be screaming “i love you” even if your lips aren’t. not to mention, love can be a terribly complicated emotion, and reducing it to such a simplistic phrase doesn’t quite do the feeling justice. i won’t even get into that bullsh*t yoko is peddling these days.

there’s nothing inherently wrong with buying your significant other a giant mylar heart-shaped humanoid balloon (like the guy i saw at dominick’s this morning). i simply advocate for the notion that whatever you’ve done for the 14th, you should be trying to top (or at least reinforce) on the 15th. just don’t tell that to the 70-pound hairy beast that’ll be jumping into my bed this evening. a guy can only afford so many treats.