Valentine’s Day Fail

Here we are at February 14^th already. Valentine’s Day has arrived again. Time to show your special someone how much you love them. I know, I know, you should do that every day, but today is the one day a year when you should really treat your sweetheart to something uniquely special. Something out of their ordinary. Something frivolous. Nothing says, “I love you,” like wasting money on something only the receiver will appreciate and enjoy. Like flowers. Or a bottle of their favorite Prosecco.

Valentine’s Day is practically synonymous with red roses, chocolates, champagne, and fun and sexy lingerie or bath items. Flowery scents in the form of perfume, soap, body washes, flowers, or candles are everywhere. I don’t know about you, but when I think Valentine’s Day, I automatically think “special day for ladies.” I don’t know why, but I do.

Perhaps it’s because for 364 days of the year, women are the primary purchasers of chocolate. But, on Valentine’s Day, men outrank women for chocolate purchases by a whoooole bunch. According to Brandon Gaille (Small Business and Marketing Advice) 75% of the chocolate purchased this day will come from men buying it for women. Tell me Valentine’s Day isn’t about men wanting to make their lady feel special. On the average Valentine’s Day, nearly $400 million of chocolate is purchased around the world, accounting for 5% of the industry’s total sales.

That’s not to say that men can’t enjoy Valentine’s Day as well, but I imagine they’d prefer their special someone simply show up in their bedroom wearing something sexy above all other possible gift options. I could be wrong, but men usually have only one thing on their mind when it comes to cupid. Maybe I’m wrong, and I’m willing to admit I might be, but today, I’m going to address Valentine’s Day from the point of view of a woman and focus on that. Guys, take notes if you need some ideas, although it’s pretty late in the game to be in the thinking phase still. You really ought to have purchased something already or made reservations. Here’s hoping you did or there won’t be anything sexy happening in your bedroom later this evening.

Now, I love me some fine jewelry, expensive perfume, and red roses as much as the next girl, but I’m not a huge fan of the chocolates, although chocolate dipped strawberries are pretty darned close to heaven if you ask me. And I do love being spoiled with a night out at a fancy restaurant. But here in Vicksburg, the options are pretty limited, especially since Valentine’s Day this year falls on a Monday. A lot of restaurants are closed in Vicksburg on Monday, even if it is Valentine’s Day. Personally, I think they’re missing a huge money-making opportunity, but, that’s just me.

My husband has been asking me where I’d like to eat for Valentine’s Day for a week or so now. Every time I give him a suggestion, I’m met with the same response, “They’re not open.” Or, “they’re not doing anything special for Valentine’s Day.” What gives Vicksburg? We can’t go all the way to Jackson because we have guests checking in at the inn, so we won’t have time. We have to stay local.

He did, however, offer to purchase a pre-made meal from a local restaurant. Sort of. It’s sort of a restaurant. I think. They used to be a restaurant, but they changed locations and decided to only be open for lunch. Half the time when you went there for lunch, they were closed. Covid pretty much shut the whole place down altogether. But they’ve been advertising on Facebook for a “catered” Valentine’s dinner. Catered meaning, they’ll cook it, you pick it up.

Say what? Who wants to do that? It still has to be warmed up, attractively arranged on “the good” dishes (hey, I’m NOT eating Valentine’s dinner out of a Styrofoam container), served at the table, and cleaned up afterward. You know who’s gonna get stuck doing that right? Me. No thank you. I’m not even sure why this “restaurant” is offering this hot mess of a deal. It’s a super special day. Guys, take your lady out to a real restaurant where someone waits on you and someone else cleans up your mess. This “catered dinner” is a Valentine’s Day fail in my book.

What comes to your mind when you think about Valentine’s Day? Do you like to receive roses or chocolates or both? What is your favorite Valentine’s Day gift? Do you think men enjoy Valentine’s Day as much as women? Side note – fun fact – did you know that the group of people who receive the most valentine cards is teachers? Now you do.

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Word of the Day: Yataghan

Fun fact about me: I prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate. White chocolate is my least favorite and I usually tend to avoid it altogether.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, February 2022. Images by Pexels.