January is a month for recovery after a stressful holiday season, creating a fresh start, and implementing self-care. Only a short month later, however, society overwhelms us with expectations to follow yet another holiday ritual: Valentine’s day. This holiday is a cliched symbol of artificial adoration for someone, so society needs to acknowledge the flaws hidden in Valentine’s Day.

Whether it be a quaint diner to share a milkshake or a candlelit dinner with live music, a date on Valentine’s day symbolizes the stereotypical tradition of celebrating romance. Partaking in such rituals for one day is considered sweet and thoughtful, but most of society neglects to acknowledge the blatant fact that honoring a significant other should not be limited to one day. Relationships should be nurtured constantly, or else their failure will be inevitable. So, dedicating only one day to a partner seems wasteful. 

After holiday candy leaves the shelves, grocery stores immediately restock with heart-shaped chocolate boxes and conversation hearts. Florists order hundreds of thousands of red roses and arrange them into the most attractive bouquets. Giant candy boxes and flowers adorned with giant velvet bows appear to be sweet gestures for loved ones on Valentine’s Day, but in reality, these products are simply a scam. The chocolate inside Russell Stover hearts is no better than the candy bar sitting in your kitchen cabinet and flowers seem like a nice gesture, but watering flowers is too much to ask for from many people. As a result, the flowers are discarded shortly after receiving them. Businesses exploit the pressure people feel to buy Valentine’s Day gifts for their own profit by promoting these “beautiful” gifts only to price them triple the regular price. Also, showing love for someone should not be done through materialistic gestures. Obviously, there are unspoken expectations in relationships to provide a gift on Valentine’s Day, yet it is rarely seen that people actually create thoughtful ways to express their love instead of materialistic gifts. 

People who chew with their mouths open are annoying, and slow walkers can be so ignorant. However, the most obnoxious act a human can perform happens to occur on Valentine’s Day: public displays of affection. Those who show P.D.A. are simply attention-seekers, so a holiday that promotes P.D.A. only perpetuates this distasteful behavior. In simplest terms, there is just a lack or self-respect that comes with public displays of affection, which only adds to the never-ending list of reasons why Valentine’s Day is nothing but a waste of time.