love is in the air...

Ah, valentine's day. We get one every year and every year it's the same. Quick. Panic. Does anybody love you? Are you doing enough for the person you love? What do you mean, you don't have anything for your girlfriend/wife/boyfriend/husband?! WHAT KIND OF AN ANIMAL ARE YOU?!?!

Or at least that's the impression of this oh-so-festive day of days that I got today.

We had a very steady day, in terms of customers and sales. More than the usual Monday, that's for sure. Of course, the majority of these sales were under $6. Cards, people, greeting cards to be exact. And lots of 'em. Pretty ones, ugly ones, sentimental and humourous ones - cards, cards, cards.

Now, I don't understand the whole greeting card thing. I say, if you want to send a message to someone, send your own message. Draw your own picture. Fold your own goddamn paper. But why spend your good, hard-earned money on some gilded and glittered picture of a heart, or a couple embracing, or a kiss, or better yet a poem. Do you really think that a crappy little piece of folded cardstock makes up for the time you told her that maybe, and it might be the lighting, but maybe she DID look fat in that dress? Or the countless times you told him that you were "too tired tonight?" No. When you give someone an overpriced greeting card, you're simply telling them that you're too lazy to make them feel appreciated the other 364 days of the year. We're destroying forests - ecosystems, if you will - to make these ugly pieces of shit that get thrown away (how many people recycle their greeting cards?) and forgotten.

I mean, no one really expects you to keep them, do they?! For many, many clutter-filled years I held on to every greeting card I've been given since I was a child. When it came time to move this past fall, I had to go through all the boxes and drawers that I had conveniently forgotten about or hidden away and sort through this pile of memories. Ultimately, I threw everything out.



And since when does valentine's day have to be about relationships? When I was a little girl, my parents would always have some heart-themed teddy bear and lotsa lotsa candy for me. But now, I don't need teddy bears, and I eat too much candy as it is, but I'm still left with the understanding that the big V is about showing those you love - friends, family, and yes, lovers too - that you love them, that you appreciate who they are and what they add to your life.

And yeah, you should eat too much chocolate. And hey, no one said you can't take the love of your life for a night on the town.

But please... save the rainforests. Boycott greeting cards.