Valentine's Day certainly isn't the worst thing in the world, but it can be a little strange. There's pressure to celebrate if you're coupled up, even if you're fine celebrating your life on an average day and don't need a holiday to remind you that you're in a relationship. When you're single there's either the expectation that you're bummed out about it, or the assumption that you need to celebrate your singleness. None of which are necessarily true.
The weird part is that a lot of people can agree that there is a lot of expectations about Valentine's Day...but it's not entirely clear who is putting those expectations on everyone to begin with . Here are some reasons why Valentine's Day just sort of sucks for everyone.
13 It's A Little Too Much Candy On The Tail Of Your New Year's Resolutions
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It's like we just barely make it out of the holiday season before this half-holiday Valentine's Day comes along. You said you weren't going to overdo it at the holidays this year, but as usual Thanksgiving was a little heavy, and Christmas and Hanukkah mean even more food. Of course you decided the new year was the perfect time to stick with that gym habit and leave out the refined sugars, so then V-day rolls around and there are candy hearts and heart chocolates everywhere. You almost feel guilty not eating them, like maybe that's where Cupid puts his love potion these days instead of using the more conspicuous arrow.
12 It's A Nightmare For Servers
Waiting tables is a pretty much a nightmare any day of the week, but on Valentine's Day it's a whole other ball game. First of all, tons of people go out for "nice" meals that don't usually go out, which means that the servers are slammed with a lot of crappy tippers. And then there's the part where people expect the server to be a supportive part of their romantic experience, and that means something different to everyone. One guy needs constant attention while the next guy will try to get a waiter fired for interrupting his conversation.
11 The Uber Drivers Have To Hear Weird Things All Night
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Imagine being an Uber driver on Valentine's Day, carting around those couples who plan on drinking their fair share of pink champagne, as well as the single people making an effort to explicitly not celebrate the day. You can be certain that he's going to have to listen to making out from the couple who just got engaged in the middle of a restaurant, fighting from the couple who just ran into the ex-girlfriend who the guy still obviously has feelings for, and tears from the girl who's having her first holiday alone. And they're not even his friend.
10 No One Knows What A Proper Valentine's Day Gift Even Is
Sure Hallmark has some card suggestions, but beyond candy and flowers what is it that you're supposed to be doing here? Cupid got you into this mess but he isn't a whole lot of help at this point. Is it customary for the girl to give a gift? Is this the time to give your boyfriend that set of golf clubs he's been lusting over or is that going to freak him out because that's more of a Christmas level type gift? Is he getting you something? What if he doesn't? What if he gives you something major like jewelry and you give him a nose hair trimmer?
9 Couples Face Weird Pressure For No Reason
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Yesterday you weren't concerned about where your relationship was going but then Valentine's Day comes along and there is so much more to potentially go wrong. You didn't think celebrating this holiday would matter to you, but let's be honest, you would be pissed if your boyfriend didn't do anything. And then you'd be irritated for the absurdity of being mad about that, and a little resentful to him because if he was making you feel secure in general, you wouldn't be putting so much pressure on what happens on Valentine's Day. Or something.
8 The Strong Single Person Has To Stay Strong
When you're the girl who's totally cool with being single and living her life worry free...you have to keep that up when Valentine's Day rolls around, otherwise it takes back everything you stand for. You don't understand why there's a day that seems to exist just to remind you of your singleness, when you don't even care about it the rest of the time. If you start to feel the pressure and wonder whether you really should have dumped your ex or not, then imagine what will happen to your friends who were planning on crying on your shoulder all night.
7 The People Who Just Got Dumped Are A Total Mess
Not that you can blame them exactly. When you're fresh out of a breakup it can make you question a lot of things, like whether you're loveable or you might end up alone forever. These feelings can arise at the post office if a stranger looks at you weird when you're in a super sensitive place, so imagine the severity of Valentine's Day when it feels like everyone is in a relationship besides you. That isn't true of course, and plenty of people are in relationships that shouldn't be, but it's still impossible to forget that you're single on a day that celebrates relationships.
6 It Makes You Feel Weird About The Rest Of The Week
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On Valentine's Day your boyfriend was a real gem, but come two days later, and he's acting like a real fool. So even though it's normal to have better days than others with a significant other, for some reason it feels particularly bad when everything isn't fantastic. Maybe you even got a little spoiled by the celebration, and takeout just doesn't have the same pzazz that it usually does on a non-holiday week. There's always a bit of a comedown when you have to come back to reality, and if you really do it up on V-day it's hard to top it anytime soon.
5 The Bartenders Have To Deal With Extra Drunk People
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The people who go out on Valentine's Day go out in a whirlwind of anti-Valentine's Day madness. There are a lot of people who set the intention to get very drunk to either A: drown their sorrows, or B: prove to everyone on Facebook that they are having so much fun on Valentine's Day regardless of their relationship status. For a bartender, this means lots of opening of champagne bottles, and also getting hit on by drunk people who are looking for something sexy to take home and make themselves feel like they're really embracing the single life.
4 And If You Want To Go Out You Feel Like A Cliché
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Can't anyone forget that it's Valentine's Day for five minutes? You want to go out with your girls for normal reasons, but you're tempted to stay in just so that no one sees you go out and assumes you're going out. And it's not like you're going to go to any of those "anti-Valentine's Day" parties because it's not that you have anything against it, you just aren't specifically trying to think about it either way. But you might end up at one of those parties anyway because for some reason that's what your best friend has in mind.
3 Your Mom Wishes You Were Married Already
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Poor mom. For her Valentine's Day is a great reminder that yet another year has passed without her daughter getting hitched. It doesn't even matter if you're in a relationship with an awesome guy or totally single, she will still call attention to the fact that you don't have a ring on your finger. At her age, she really shouldn't be caring what other people are thinking or trying to one up her friends, and yet she's calling you to let you know the details about the lovely wedding her neighbor's daughter just had and also how that same adorable couple just put a down payment on a house. Okay mom.
2 A Lot Of People Will Sleep With People They Shouldn't Have
There's nothing wrong with hookups in theory, but the motives behind it can really affect the outcome. Valentine's Day has a strange way of suggesting that people get in touch with their ex, finally give in to that guy at work who's been trying to date you for the past year, or just pick up a random stranger to fill in some of that loneliness. The problem with impulsive sex decisions is that sometimes they open a whole can of crazy worms. Now that you slept with work guy, he's in love and thinks you're dating...whoops.
1 It's A Pretty Terrible Day To Dump Someone
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If you realize that you don't really want to celebrate Valentine's Day with the guy you're seeing then it might be a good time to breakup. But then you realize that you can't dump him on Valentine's Day, and even doing it a couple days before is a little cold hearted. And then at the same time you don't want to not break up with him because of Valentine's Day, because then you'll be either faking your way through the romance or acting so cold and distant that he'll know that something is up.
sources: cosmopolitan.co.uk
