Single people should treat Valentine’s Day as if it were ‘Adventure Day’

RAY GREWAL
VANCOUVER DESI

Love is never easy – Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Submitted photo

It’s that day again when you can smell the fresh scent of love. Chocolates, cinnamon hearts, red roses, heart-shaped helium balloons, pink cupcakes and cute romantic cards everywhere —  all to inflame the expression of one of the best feelings on earth: love.

Valentine’s Day is a highlight for couples. The candlelight dinner, exchanging of sentimental gifts, snuggling up by the fireplace or, for those long-distance couples, blowing warm kisses over video chat.

The holiday isn’t as well taken by the single community.  It is more of a reminder about how the last relationship went down the drain or the sheer unfortunate luck involved in trying to search for that special someone.   They keep their blues under wraps by convincing people that the day is commercialized and just about marketing for merchants.  They end up in pajamas by 6 p.m., plop themselves on a couch with a bag of popcorn watching a movie, and enjoy some alone time.

For many, the distresses start  at a young age, when a grade school teacher asks the class to get up and deliver Valentine’s Day cards to one another’s desks.  The enthusiastic single kid holds out their thick deck of cards and starts delivering one to each individual person in the class, including their bullies, to try to get on better terms. By the time the kid returns to their own desk there are only a few cards scattered about and the biggest one is from the teacher herself.  Even at that innocent age, we know it’s pathetic.

The embarrassment only grows more in high school, when messages are exchanged between classrooms and the one year you get one it’s from your best friend. A decision has already been made to skip out on the Valentine’s dance and opt for the “desired” alone time to watch TV.

Then college comes along and things seem to be turning around. You’re looking good, people are checking you out and a few dates are lined up. You feel like your luck has finally turned around because before you know it you enter your first serious relationship. Oh but wait, along with this comes the first serious break-up and that, too, conveniently right before the month of February.

Girls end up in an “I hate men discussion,” with their other single gals, and polish off bottles of wine and pretend that the 14th of February never existed. Meanwhile men go on a scouting mission with their single boys and come off looking sleazy.

Then the late twenties hit, and you have been in many off and on relationships, checked out the dating scene and still haven’t found “the one.” You find yourself making the best of your single life, and soon discover the perks of being independent and on your own.

For those in relationships, enjoy your champagne and the romantic gestures. And for the single folks, I think we should just change Valentine’s Day to Adventure Day. Do something new and, hey, you never know, you might just find a partner in crime

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Ray Grewal is a medical student who writes for Vancouver Desi­­­.