Valentine’s Day is finally here. There are shelves filled with candies, teddy bears and chocolate. Classrooms are decorated with hearts and classmates gifting cards. These are some of the many traditions associated with Valentine’s Day. But did you notice one thing that all these Valentine’s Day rituals have in common? The short answer is money. To celebrate valentine’s day, you must buy things with money. Making Valentine’s Day a Hallmark Holiday.
A lot of people see Valentine’s Day as a commercial holiday instead of a real holiday.
Valentine’s day is a holiday to celebrate love, but why should we choose Feb. 14 to celebrate something we should be doing every day? “It’s commercialized. You should actually be doing that every day,” math teacher Michael Markese said.
To celebrate Valentine’s Day there is a cultural practice of buying your loved ones gifts. Which is fine in small increments, but in America buying things during the holidays is a big part of our culture. During Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Halloween you always must buy things to celebrate. “I think Valentine’s Day is a ploy for people to buy things,” Freshman Sofia Lopez said. Holidays like these are setting incentives in our nation that every holiday requires gifts.
But Valentine’s Day is not all bad. Valentine’s day encourages people to celebrate the important value of love. A lot of people have good memories about Valentine’s Day. “On Valentine’s Day I found out I was going to be a mom,” English teacher Elizabeth Halstead said.
Valentine’s day has its good and bad qualities. It reminds us to love each other and cherish our relationships with our loved ones, but also pressures people to spend large amounts money on one another, dubbing this day for love a Hallmark Holiday. We should be caring for our loved ones every day and especially on Valentine’s Day with words of affirmation and acts of service as well as giving the occasional gift.