Valentine's Day fluff -- nothing too serious here

I happen to like Valentine's Day. We have an insistent culture of "I'm better than that," (see Ben Folds, "Battle of Who Could Care Less), and, of course, it wears off on this holiday, too. So many people with reasons why they are above V-Day. If they want to down me for loving the day, go for it, I'll still be up past midnight making cards and thinking of ways to surprise the Wife.

Here's some of the complaints I've heard:

It's commercial. Yes, it's commercialized, but what isn't? Seriously, what in our culture isn't about buying things? We have, after all, 3 candy holidays (Valentine's, Easter, and Halloween). Problem solved: don't go out and buy flowers, chocolates and a teddy bear holding a heart. Maybe don't spend any money at all. Hasn't deterred my Valentine's.

Why do we need a special day for being nice to our significant other, buying them gifts and telling them you love them? Shouldn't that be everyday?

Yes, everyday should be special, and then the "special" becomes simply the "everyday." Take this logic to the furthest point. You should celebrate someone's birth everyday, why have a birthday? You should celebrate the birth, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ everyday, why have Christmas, Good Friday and Easter? You should be thankful everyday, why have Thanksgiving? Hey, I'm not going to make you enjoy holidays, but don't try to put a damper on those who do.

And then there's all the people trying to make Valentine's Day into a depressing episode because they don't have a Valentine's. The type of people you don't invite to a wedding. Quite frankly, this culture puts way to much emphasis on relationships. If you mope around on Valentine's Day, you need both a priority change and a lesson in selflessness. Does other people's happiness really make you that unhappy?

And, yes, it might be based on a pagan holiday. 1600 years ago.Way beyond caring about that. We're not choosing couples out of a hat and this day has nothing to do with fertility (well, not specifically).

I'm getting mean here, I know, but I hate to see a holiday meant to be about your significant other lambasted like it has been. I love my wife everyday. But on Valentine's Day, I'm going to celebrate that I have a 5 year relationship that still gets us both excited. I'm sorry if you don't have that. Don't take it out on me ;-)

Much love, world.