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Maegwyn -> Issue 39 - Love for Sale (Elnaith) (2/8/2009 12:19:53)
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Love for Sale
By Elnaith
Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and you can't turn on your TV, open a newspaper or even walk through a city without being told that 'your love' needs a Diamond Necklace of Loving + 1 (With extra Golden Runes). Otherwise, you'll be a lonely single one again. Of course, if you settle for the Emerald Necklace of Caring +1, some of the relationship might be saved. But wait! Even if you don't have a relationship, you probably have friends, so this counts especially for you girls out there: Be sure to give your friends a Bracelet of Friendship, with added Candy Hearts of DOOM (Or was it LOVE?) For just 299 dollars!
What a cheap deal for happiness all around you, no?
Now okay, that might have been a bit over the top, but you get the idea. Valentine's Day nowadays is kind of commercialised... Just a bit mind, you see, it's still a holiday about buying gifts for your beloved, right? Oh wait, wrong again.. You remember (Or know, depending on your age) that thing your school did, the whole secret love thing, where you were always so very ashamed if you got a rose/card/whatever? Well, this is a shocker, sometimes schools do get things right.
Valentine's day was always the day for secret lovers, first it was handwritten notes, slipped somewhere unnoticed (That is, the slipping went unnoticed, naturally, the notice ended up being noticed, otherwise the day would be very noticeable.) Then the Nineteenth Century came, and so came the cards. Cards were a logical step, it's way easier to sneak something on the post, but also the step that lead to the current way of celebrating Valentine's day.
How come, you might wonder? Well, it brought third parties in it, and I'm not talking about your friend who distracts the girl/guy so you can slip a note unseen in some open part of his/her locker, that's all fine. These third parties, however, had another interest: Money. The more cards they sold, the more money they got, so what's the natural reaction to do? Promote their articles. But that can only stretch so far... What about all those people who stubbornly already have a lover, and won't buy those cards? Well, expand the market! Change the holiday from 'secretive' love to 'love', and suddenly a those people need to buy cards too!
Wait, said the other companies, what Hallmark can do, we can do better! And thus came the inevitable inclusion of 'gifts' and the even more broader application of the day, not just lovers, but friends you love too... And well, chocolates to your mother, because you love her too, right? Etcetera. It even went so far that a lot of countries who had no tradition at all of celebrating this holiday, now celebrate a version of it due to heavy advert campaigns in their countries.
Ironically, the day got such a metamorphosis, that now 'singles' often feel down because they see couples together on Valentine's Day. While in fact this should be the day for them to make their love known, and rejoice.
To bring back the tradition I will hereby proclaim my love for you, S.
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