I feel the same way when people say “Happy Valentine’s Day!” to me as I do when they wish me a “Merry Christmas!” which is to say,
bemused.
“Umm, don’t you know this day does not (has not, and in the foreseeable future will not ever*) have anything to do with me?”
I don’t go in for that “Valentine’s Day is about love of all kinds” brand of apologetics. No it isn’t. It’s about romantic love–which is fine. Just like Thanksgiving is about eating food; it’s not about Native American history because that holiday doesn’t exist. It’d be nice if it were, but it’s not. Let couples have their day. It’s an incredible feat to find someone who calls you back but isn’t creepy and tells the truth and doesn’t make a sex tape and then blackmail you with it or however dating works in post-Pamela Anderson America. Let’s stop pretending that it’s more than what it is, when it is already enough as it is.
Slightly unrelated but still on the general topic, the best thing about never having had a Valentine (which is coincidentally the best thing about not doing Christmas even though the reasoning behind not participating is completely different) is that I have no memories associated with it. There is nothing personal to attach to and feel like I’m missing out on.
Let’s end on a high note: I love chocolate!
*I’m not interested in dating. It seems messy and awful and dangerous and expensive and, in the vast majority of cases, not worth it.
Footsteps On Concrete 
So, Olive watches PBS Sprout (PBS for preschoolers) everyday and they made a HUGE deal about Valentine’s day all day today. My mom was super confused and was like, “I thought it was a romantic holiday?” And she’s right, and so are you, that it is a romantic holiday. In fact, maybe I’ve been out of the loop, but this is the very first year I’ve ever heard anyone (today I’ve heard like 5 people) refer to the holiday as being about all kinds of love. My first instinct is to think that it’s just our culture’s way of trying to make everyone feel included, you know, so no one feels bad, like how everyone on the t-ball team wins so no one feels like a failure? Except I also sort of take issue with Valentine’s day because there are few things more irritating that women who get angry with their men who don’t do “enough” or the “right” thing on Valentine’s day. Girl, you need to be worried about all the rest of the days of the year, not just February 14th. I’d take a thoughtful and loving companion for 364 days over one who remembers to make and keep dinner reservations but once a year. This year was the very first year in the 6 years Michael and I have been together that we were even going to do something on the actual day, since we usually protest by just doing something the night before (which is really just an excuse to go out to dinner because I like to eat and I really like to eat out). Anyway, of course, he ended up canceling because something blew up at work. So there you go. I should have made a date with you in the first place.