In my opinion, Valentine’s Day is infinitely overrated. All of you are celebrating a cheesy holiday profited off of by companies like Hallmark. Do you even know the history of Valentine’s Day and why we call it that? Me neither. (St. Valentine was a Catholic martyr killed in Rome on Feb. 14, 270 A.D. – ed.) Anyway, congratulations to everyone in a happy relationship, but we get it, you are happy. You do not have to keep reminding us! We are all jealous. I’m single and have been for a few months, so I was glad to be working a shift at the boba shop I work at this Valentine’s Day. I feel like there is always pressure to have plans on Valentine’s Day, whether you are single or not, so at least I had something to do that day.

We made a special Valentine’s Day drink at the boba shop. It was a rose-lychee milk tea with pink strawberry sea cream. The rose-lychee milk tea is one of my favorite drinks to make at work, And the pink sea cream, a pink strawberry whipped cream, is also so fun. We had a couple of people order it during my shift.

Here’s why Valentine’s Day is overrated, but I love it anyway. The whole holiday is a marketing scheme by Hallmark and Dove and Hershey (etc.) to sell chocolate and cards. Why should one day be any different to decide to spend money and attention on your significant other? Maybe I am just being negative because I’m unhappy being single, but every day should be spent giving your partner as much love as you can, not just on the day society tells you to! Okay, here’s why I also love Valentine’s Day at the same time – I love the color pink! It is one of my favorite colors, and I love to see the world decked out in various hues of pink and red around Valentine’s Day – although cheesy, it is also very cute. And I love chocolate, and I love romance. So for me, Valentine’s Day would be the perfect holiday if it were not for the capitalization and Hallmark-ification of the holiday from something cute into a way to make a ton of money every year.

This Valentine’s Day is not my only Valentine’s Day spent lonely, and it likely will not be my last. And if you’re reading this, there’s about a 30% chance you were lonely on Valentine’s Day, too, because according to the Pew Research Center, 31% of US adults are single. So, if almost a third of the US population is single, why is there such a big deal placed around having plans on Valentine’s Day? I am here to argue that Valentine’s Day should be no different from any other day for those who do not have a loved one in their life to spend the day with. I love heart-shaped Reese’s, do not get me wrong, they can stay. But I should be able to live out my Valentine’s Day without societal pressure to have plans or be in a relationship. Sometimes being alone is the only option for people!

What did you do this Valentine’s Day, and what do you think – should it be socially acceptable to be alone on Valentine’s Day?