IT SEEMS as though typical young adults are expected to react in one of two ways to Valentine's Day - either with unparalleled joy because they have a significant other, or with contempt and disgust because they are single. For anyone without a boyfriend or girlfriend, this is the day to feel bitterness toward the world and all happy, adorable couples.
This gloomy attitude can ruin an enjoyable holiday, because what the single population has yet to acknowledge is that Valentine's Day is as much about friendship as it is about love. Whether or not a person has a boyfriend or girlfriend shouldn't dictate his or her attitude toward this day.
To many people, Valentine's Day appears to be the ultimate consumer holiday, and with good reason.
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Less than two months after Christmas, store window displays are full of stuffed animals holding red hearts and the price for a dozen roses has doubled. Suddenly the line for Hallmark weaves its way through half the mall and everyone feels pressure to find the perfect $10 box of chocolates to express their love. All these declarations of affection seem uncreative and cheesy - the whole holiday appears pointless.
However, Valentine's Day is the perfect time to show how much people care for their friends, not just their true loves. This mission can be accomplished in a silly and inexpensive way.
For example, Valentine's Day can be a wonderful excuse to bond with hallmates and roommates. Last year, after a discussion about how much we missed elementary school Valentine's Day parties, my hallmates and I decided to revert back to our kindergarten days and make Valentine's Day card bags. We cut out construction paper hearts and decorated white paper bags with them. Then, we hung them outside our doors and everyone on the hall exchanged valentines.
An activity such as this may seem goofy, but come on, how could I not laugh when I reached into my bag, pulled out a valentine and found Ricky Martin smiling up at me in his oh-so-cheesy way? To be truthful, it made my day and it was all thanks to my friends and some cheap valentines from Wal-Mart, not a dozen roses from a secret admirer.
Valentine's Day is also a great time to show appreciation for one's family. For as long as I can remember, my family has exchanged little presents on the morning of Feb. 14. Of course, by "present" I mean a little box of chocolates or a teddy bear. Yes, this certainly is buying into the consumerism of the holiday, but sometimes a cheap, tacky gift is much appreciated and necessary.
This fact has become more apparent since I came to the University. Sometimes, despite how many friends students have or activities they are involved in, they can feel lonely. The craziness of college life can be so overwhelming that students may begin to believe their lives consist of lectures, homework and Alderman Library.
This is how I felt at the beginning of my second semester of my first year. On that Valentine's Day, I found that glorious green note in my mailbox that makes every college student's heart skip a beat - I had received a package. I picked it up, opened it, and there inside was a book from my parents: "Chicken Soup for the College Soul." It made me so happy, I wanted to burst.
It was not the fact that I had received a present, even though I loved the book. It was the fact that someone cared about me and wanted to remind me that there was a world outside of textbooks. Between that event and the valentines from my hallmates, Valentine's Day turned into the feel-good day of the century.
Therefore, with several ideas about how to make Valentine's Day enjoyable, there is no reason to cry oneself into a stupor over not having a significant other. Take the day to brighten the lives of friends and family, instead of moping around cursing Cupid and those little candy hearts.
The best Valentine's Day gift I ever received was from a childhood friend. He gave me a single flower and a card that told me how much he cared about me. It was by no means a mushy, romantic love poem - it was a card that said how much he valued our friendship.
Whenever I think of Valentine's Day now, the moment he gave me that gift sticks out as my fondest memory, one that makes me smile and brings tears to my eyes, and probably always will.
If one friend can turn a "consumer" holiday into a memory that means so much to me, Valentine's Day is certainly a holiday worth celebrating.
(Michelle Drucker's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at mpd7f@virginia.edu.)
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