Valentine's Day Is Nice. But, Eating Day?

A lot of people attack Valentine's Day as being too commercial or too cheesy. "It's a Hallmark holiday!" "You shouldn't need a special day to celebrate your love!" All of those arguments are garbage. Valentine's Day is the most important holiday we have. It's not tied into any religion, it doesn't celebrate any individual or group, and it's not political in any way. It's just a day to honor love, which transcends all of those things.

While you may think holidays like the 4^th of July or Christmas are more important because of their socio-political symbolism, I happen to strongly disagree. Those holidays are important to the people that care about them (Americans and Christians, respectively) but they're not principles shared by the entire world. Wouldn't the most important holiday be the one that every single person on earth can relate to? And isn't love the one concept that is shared by all humanity? And aren't I getting way too serious about all of this? The answer is yes to all.

You may not agree with me and that's okay. I get it. Sometimes it's hard to share the viewpoint of a dude that really thinks we should establish a worldwide celebration called Eating Day. That would be incredible. Honestly, though, it just makes more sense to me to set aside days to celebrate the biggest concepts in life. Mother's Day and Father's Day? Cool in my book. Nobody would be here without mamas and papas. On the other hand, Columbus Day is nice and all because of the day off, but isn't there enough evidence to suggest that maybe we shouldn't be celebrating anything about the guy? That's my whole point. We stop just about everything on a federal scale for Columbus, but on Valentine's Day it's business as usual. I don't know about you, but I think love should be given more credence than Italian navigators.

How does food figure into all of this? I haven't done any research into the subject, but I'm pretty sure "going out to dinner" is the number one thing that couples do on Valentine's Day. Survey says... yes! That's because sharing a meal is one of the most intimate things we do together (besides, you know, sticking our braids into each other's braids Avatar-style). Even though eating together has been a ritualistic part of life for millennia, doing so on Valentine's Day gives that meal so much more significance. That's because you've made a conscious choice to spend the evening with one person (or more depending on your situation...) and that choice is an expression of your heart. When you decide to have a Valentine's Day dinner with your partner, you're echoing the sage words of Ralph Wiggum's Valentine to Lisa Simpson: "I choo choo choose you."

So go forth! Celebrate our world's most important holiday with the person you love more than anyone else. Spend tons of money on cards and roses and chocolate! Use the day as an excuse to get dressed up and go out! Proclaim your love louder and longer than you do on any other day of the year! It may be commercial and cheesy to some people, but those people don't appreciate love like we do.

Happy Valentine's Day, Heart Attackers.