Now Playing -
Hang On St. Christopher by Tom Waits
Hang On St. Christopher by Tom Waits
Life -
This post was inspired by Randy and Steve's comments from my last post.
Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with romantic gestures and the idea of a day dedicated to your loved ones. I just have a great dislike for the modern version of Valentine's Day. It's crass and ugly and utterly fake.
If I could, every year I would find a way to do something truly special for my wife. A trip to Ireland or a weekend on some secluded island. An experience that we would always remember fondly and but since we both work and find ourselves quite broke, I suppose a plush bear and some cheap candy will have to do. That's just as romantic, right?
I can't tell you how many people I serve on Valentine's day at work. Rushing in, grabbing the first box of candy with red on it, a junky plaque with a poem etched on it and a $7 singing card. That's not romantic, or sweet. It's not even good gift giving! If the entirety of your symbol of love came from a drug store and was delivered at an overcrowded restaurant with artificially inflated holiday prices, I'm glad you aren't my beloved.
So maybe I don't HATE Valentine's Day, not exactly. I just hate the people that only celebrate it because they think they're supposed to.
I could be more romantic though, I think everyone could. So I'm gonna start picking days throughout the year that don't have a red date on the calendar. Days that I can try and show my wife how special she is to me.
But I will not be buying her some tacky knick knack that becomes even uglier the day after the holiday.
Writing - If I could, every year I would find a way to do something truly special for my wife. A trip to Ireland or a weekend on some secluded island. An experience that we would always remember fondly and but since we both work and find ourselves quite broke, I suppose a plush bear and some cheap candy will have to do. That's just as romantic, right?
I can't tell you how many people I serve on Valentine's day at work. Rushing in, grabbing the first box of candy with red on it, a junky plaque with a poem etched on it and a $7 singing card. That's not romantic, or sweet. It's not even good gift giving! If the entirety of your symbol of love came from a drug store and was delivered at an overcrowded restaurant with artificially inflated holiday prices, I'm glad you aren't my beloved.
So maybe I don't HATE Valentine's Day, not exactly. I just hate the people that only celebrate it because they think they're supposed to.
I could be more romantic though, I think everyone could. So I'm gonna start picking days throughout the year that don't have a red date on the calendar. Days that I can try and show my wife how special she is to me.
I did a final revision on a few thousand words today. Hooray me!
The Last Sentence -
They felt like oversized coins.
They felt like oversized coins.
From - "Mr. Pale Steps Out " (WIP)
The ROUS FAMILY -
5 comments:
Thanks Kris. You make some good points. I've gone through a few different phases in my nearly 23 years of marriage. We used to buy each other gifts at holidays until at one point I put my foot down because my wife would always spend way more than we could afford and I just couldn't compete with that.
Then we tried spending limits which were blatantly ignored. We started getting into more serious debt after we had some children and finally decided to forgoe gift giving. Instead at Christmas we usually splurge on a gift for the whole family like a television or something. Only a card is allowed at holidays and we usually try to go out to eat, sans kids, which is the one activity we really enjoy and cherish because it doesn't happen very often.
You hit the nail on the head that whatever you do should be a sincere effort to show how special your significant other is to you. Well done.
For the most part, we've followed our rules and it seems to work for us. I always try to personalize a store bought card with my endless witty banter to make it more special and personal and we go out. This year, our V-day was celebrated at Olive Garden. Right now it's our favorite area restaurant. We had an amazing evening. It was special to us, and didn't cost us a ton of money.
Nice work on the revisions! And I love the last line.
I enjoyed Kris's blog and Randy's echo. What is there left to say. After 25 years of marriage, I know that no card or gift is going to express my love adequately. Still, I like Valentines Day because it is a reminder of the love that's shared by Belinda and I. I'm sentimental as hell for a guy and I usually keep all the cards I get at Valentines and at other special times. This year was special for us because the boys bought Belinda a beautiful bouquet of flowers. It marked a point in their lives when they felt like honoring their mother. I know just how they feel. We bought our parents flowers every Valentines Day. I believe it's much more important to buy flowers for people when they are alive than when they are dead. Belinda's mom is very alive and her livingroom is always filled with flowers on Valentines Day from her seven children. But alas, come Memorial Day, I'll be buying my mom flowers, and hope they are enjoyed by others.
Great comments, guys. I should admit that my cynicism is a fairly recent thing, just since I started working Retail. It seems like everything has an unsavory money-tinted stink about it when you do. I used to save all of my hand made valentines cards and I loved Christmas. I just think I'm finding it harder every year to see past it when so much of the holidays is spent obsessing over sales and items related to it.
Maybe some day we'll get our motel and I can start loving holidays again.
Since Randy and I persuaded you to write this blog, I'm thinking we might persuade you to write one regarding your one-year anniversary in Maine. Has the year gone by fast or slow. Do you feel you've grown from the experience or do you feel you've been "rode hard and put away wet" as the cowboys say. And lastly, do you feel you are any closer to your goal of owning a motel?
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