St. Valentine's Day

I have learned to not enjoy Valentine’s Day. Ask many an American who hates the day why they do and I think you’ll hear, “why should we only celebrate love on February 14th?”, “it’s hard to remember,” or “It’s a commercial institution, created by Hallmark.” Ask a super-independent single female and she might tell you one or both of those reasons, but more likely she’ll tell you, “it is a day that makes single women feel crappy about themselves.”

As a single female, I have not enjoyed the day ever since bringing hard candies and chocolates into class on Valentine’s Day became a faux pas. (I learned that one the hard way in English 101.) If there comes a time when it’s no longer appropriate to give and receive candy on a particular holiday, then you can bet I won’t be on board with the day anymore. (This is why I no longer care about Halloween. People hesitated to give me candy when my sister was too young to trick-or-treat without a grown-up, and they really hesitate to give it to me now that she is old enough to be a her own grown-up chaperone.)

Things are different in the DR. For one thing, it’s not referred to as Saint Valentine’s Day. Even in a country full of Catholics, I have heard the majority of people refer to the day as “day of love and friendship.” It confused me a bit when I first heard that title. Someone had to explain that they were referring to Valentine’s Day. Cuz I was gonna say, “since when is there a day to celebrate love and friendship?”

Well maybe we should! Consider it- what matters more than anything, even more than hard-candies and chocolate? Love, right? Right. So, how come we can’t celebrate the day of love and friendship instead of the day of couples?