Gone Fishin'
Uh, is it just me or is Roeper going fishin' for some crazy reactions with this column? He's going to get a whack load of angry emails in his inbox. But I feel no pity. Because he's totally asking for it with this one. Bitter kid.
So I didn't feel compelled to write anything about Valentine's day until I read that. I'm kind of ambivalent about the whole holiday. I'm certainly not willing to accept full responsibility for its existence on behalf of my entire gender. I remember hearing the real story about St. Valentine way back in, like, Grade One, so I started doing some refresher reading. The story is mostly forgotten in the general hub-bub surrounding the non-bank holiday. St. Valentine was a Roman priest who performed marriages against the will of the Roman Emperor. He was caught, imprisoned, fell in love with his imprisoner's daughter, wrote her some sweet love letters, and then was executed in around 270AD. He was elevated to sainthood at around 500AD when the Pope outlawed a Pagan love festival and replaced it with St. Valentine's day instead. So if you're going to blame anyone, Roeper, blame the pagans.
But what it really feels more like, is that Roeper is either:
a) Tired of being single,
b) Tired of being in a relationship with someone who gets crabby about Valentine's Day, or
c) Tired of being thought of as cheap.
The basic principle of inertia dictates that if we, as a society, didn't set aside a day to celebrate something, life would go on as normal and nothing would get celebrated. Without Thanksgiving, no one would take the time to be specifically thankful for their good fortunes. Without Mother or Father's Day, no one would take the time to make breakfast in bed for their parents. Without Halloween, no one would let little kids run rampant throughout the neighbourhood, dressed up as ghouls and begging for candy. Without Valentine's Day, well, at this point, you get my drift. (Around St. Patrick's Day, my logic sort of falls apart, because I'm pretty sure that people in general do not need a specific day to be reminded to enjoy the thrills of alcohol. But - whatever.)
And I have never not participated in Valentine's Day while in a relationship. I buy flowers and candy for boyfriends and cook them dinner on that day - provided a boyfriend exists at the time. Not that me cooking is much of a treat. But the point is, it goes both ways. Recognition of love is not only expected of the male. So we set up a specific day to celebrate love. What's the big deal??
Shut up and buy your sweetie some flowers, Roeper. (cheapskate.)
So I didn't feel compelled to write anything about Valentine's day until I read that. I'm kind of ambivalent about the whole holiday. I'm certainly not willing to accept full responsibility for its existence on behalf of my entire gender. I remember hearing the real story about St. Valentine way back in, like, Grade One, so I started doing some refresher reading. The story is mostly forgotten in the general hub-bub surrounding the non-bank holiday. St. Valentine was a Roman priest who performed marriages against the will of the Roman Emperor. He was caught, imprisoned, fell in love with his imprisoner's daughter, wrote her some sweet love letters, and then was executed in around 270AD. He was elevated to sainthood at around 500AD when the Pope outlawed a Pagan love festival and replaced it with St. Valentine's day instead. So if you're going to blame anyone, Roeper, blame the pagans.
But what it really feels more like, is that Roeper is either:
a) Tired of being single,
b) Tired of being in a relationship with someone who gets crabby about Valentine's Day, or
c) Tired of being thought of as cheap.
The basic principle of inertia dictates that if we, as a society, didn't set aside a day to celebrate something, life would go on as normal and nothing would get celebrated. Without Thanksgiving, no one would take the time to be specifically thankful for their good fortunes. Without Mother or Father's Day, no one would take the time to make breakfast in bed for their parents. Without Halloween, no one would let little kids run rampant throughout the neighbourhood, dressed up as ghouls and begging for candy. Without Valentine's Day, well, at this point, you get my drift. (Around St. Patrick's Day, my logic sort of falls apart, because I'm pretty sure that people in general do not need a specific day to be reminded to enjoy the thrills of alcohol. But - whatever.)
And I have never not participated in Valentine's Day while in a relationship. I buy flowers and candy for boyfriends and cook them dinner on that day - provided a boyfriend exists at the time. Not that me cooking is much of a treat. But the point is, it goes both ways. Recognition of love is not only expected of the male. So we set up a specific day to celebrate love. What's the big deal??
Shut up and buy your sweetie some flowers, Roeper. (cheapskate.)
posted by nerdifer at 2:55 a.m.
1 Comments:
THANK YOU!
Oh, and the excuse of not wanting to be *forced* into showing affection is not valid. Flip that one on its ear. Think of Valentine's Day as a gentle reminder that you love someone. Valentine's Day can actually get you OFF THE HOOK for the rest of the year. Chances are, if the calendar doesn't tell you to put a little effort into it, you won't. But put the effort into buying flowers or making dinner or leaving sweet little notes that say "You make me smile" when the calendar reminds you to, and chances are no one will grumble if you don't buy those flowers any of the other 364 days of the year. Think positive.
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