Yesterday was Valentine's Day (is that just a States or an Anglo-y thing?), not that you could miss it for the decorations and excessive social media posts. I made the poor choice of going to the grocery to pick up some things on the day itself, and it was a madhouse -- the flowers were all wiped out and there were chocolate strawberry stations and baked goods and king crab legs and lobster tails galore. There was also a cherry picker thingie with a guy taking down all the hanging heart decorations and another employee replacing Valentine chocolate with Easter chocolate. Poof! Holiday gone!
But, Facebook was a stream of Valentine's day stuff, for DAYS before, largely due to the "Valentine Challenge" -- a hashtagged invitation to share your couple-y coupledom, from beginnings to traits to photos. It was EVERYWHERE.
All I could think was, "for single humans, this must feel like the Mother's Day onslaught feels to me." Which was verified when a teacher friend posted, "never am I so aware of my single status as I am on Facebook on Valentine's Day. ☹️"
I know that you can't ever make everyone happy, And I know that everyone will be excluded from something at some point, but these challenges make me cringe. They fill the feed with even more highlights of what some have and some do not. It can feel like a tidal wave of exclusion, which is how Mother's Day/Christmas/Back to School/Easter feel to me.
So I didn't participate, and I didn't even post anything from our Valentine's mini celebration, which was super low key and involved handmade cards and wine and food and me falling asleep on the couch and then talking in my sleep and waking up while Bryce was trying to make sense of the nonsense I was saying and feeling super confused (apparently I do that a lot, which is a horrifying revelation). It felt kind of nice to keep our evening a bit more private, a bit less on display, a bit less in the face of people for whom Valentine's Day is an unpleasant reminder.
 |
| Right before we put pajamas on |
 |
| Always need a stupid face photo |
Want to read more #Microblog Mondays? Go here and enjoy!
Love this. Valentine's Day isn't a big thing for people of my generation - in fact, many of us completely ignore it, but I think younger people are more into it these days. Much like Halloween here too. I only noticed it was Valentine's Day on my social media feed when the US and Canada were entering the 14th, with a few posts from my US/Canadian friends/family.
ReplyDeleteCommercialism is strong though. We had been working hard at the in-laws' house for nine hours on Sunday, got home and decided to order pizza. The pizza chain knew it was Valentine's Day, and were offering an R18 special with a pizza order online. (Hell Pizza, with pizzas aptly named things like Greed and Lust!) But by the time I ordered, sometime after 6 pm, they had already sold out of the bullet vibrators they were giving away for free! lol
THAT IS HILARIOUS! Who doesn't want a bullet vibrator with their Greed and Lust pizza? What an interesting add-on.
DeleteAww you are really thoughtful. <3
ReplyDeleteI always love your pictures of you two! You both radiate such a good energy. :)
Thank you! I think we may be radiating champagne and too much food, but I'll take it! :)
DeleteLove your stupid faces!
ReplyDelete(That comment is not to be taken out of context.)
Looks like you had a very loving February 14th.
Awww, I love that you love our stupid faces! :) It was nice, and a lot nicer since there was no school the next day so I could stay up and overindulge and kick off February Break Week in style. :)
Delete