Why do I hate Valentine’s Day—when I write Romance?
Before all those avid lovers of V-Day start trolling me, let’s look at the history, not The History, but my history, dealing with the other side of Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s Day—The Early Years.
When I was young—younger—Valentine’s Day was full of mystery and surprises. It was my introduction to real-life romance.
At school, our smitten teacher decided we’d make Valentine’s Day cards. A card for the guy you crushed on so baaaad, you couldn’t talk to them without stammering some new foreign language, glowing so bright it set off alarms in the space station with their heat radar.
But it was fun.
Not the embarrassing part—that I never seemed to grow out of. Oops, I digress.
Back to today’s saga…
As budding Michelangelo’s of glitter and glue, we crafted the covers to our cards. Then we’d spend heartfelt seconds, hugging our inner cupids (or is that muse) working on Lord Bryon’s long-lost love poem, you know the ones:
‘Roses are red, wish you were dead, Fred!’
So, we created handmade cards, or languishing love letters for our sweethearts. We’d slide them into this big box with the name of our one true love on the envelope. The teacher played the love-struck cupid, wearing wings stolen from the Christmas nativity play, delivering sonnets of love to our school desk’s first thing in the morning.
I couldn’t wait to see who put a card on my desk. Then, I’d spend the rest of the day trying to find out who’d made it for me—while avoiding my secret crush.
It was sweet; it was innocent, and it brought many smiles that day.
That was in primary school.
The Trauma Begins…
Then I hit high school and scored a part-time job at a commercial florist. You know the ready-made posies off the supermarket shelf. The generic box of cellophane-wrapped orchids. The blink-don’t-miss bouquets in buckets by the front counter. Yep, that was once made by moi.
I’d start at 4 am to get those flowers ready for the supermarkets, then go to school. But, on Valentine’s day, we’d start the night before…
Freezing my fingers off, retrieving flowers from water-filled buckets. Suffering from an achy back standing in the cold room in summer. We’d stand there with our numb fingers bleeding from de-pricking rose stems, wrapping single-stem roses in more cellophane and ribbon than actual flower.
I left that job and dashed all my hopes of becoming a florist because I developed Hay-fever and liked having my hands free from cuts and bandages.
The Taunting Trauma Continues…
Then I graduated to never indulging in a candlelight dinner on Valentine’s Day! Ever.
Why?
Because I worked it—no, not like Pretty Woman.
I ended up slaving away in front of a hot stove—no, this is not the 1950s
I became a chef.
The Inhospitable Side of Valentine’s Day
In the hospitality trade, there are only a few days you’re not allowed to have off—ever—it’s Christmas Day and Valentine’s Day.
You’re expected to cater to a full restaurant, so you start earlier. This means standing in a cold room all day (that sounds familiar) hand-making chocolate hearts for desserts. You dream and smell of nothing but chocolate. Losing sleep, busily designing delectable dishes with that aphrodisiac twist, perfect for two—coz it’s all about the chemistry, babe.
Then it’s showtime. That’s where we amuse ourselves by dancing around a busy kitchen and dishing up dinner. We’d also peek through our portal to the outside world (the dining room) and take bets over which couple would get divorced by the next Valentine’s date. I know, rude, huh!
Maybe we were jealous they got to be publicly romantic while we were stuck at work.
(And, this is where we cue the world’s smallest violin!)
The Valentine’s Day Trade-off
Okay, you do have to appreciate the industry behind this global day of romance. It was a great excuse for that mega-shy geeky girl to give something to the guy who never knew my Her name. Or for that guy that finally finds the courage to give the lady of his dreams a red rose.
Look, I’m not totally against romance. Err, hello, if you’ve just stumbled on this site, I write romantic Happily Ever Afters. I don’t completely hate V-day, I just avoid it because it used to be a day of dread, where we all participated in the eye-rolling Olympics.
But If Given A Choice, Which Gift Would You Want:
Group A:
❤️ that dust-collecting cheesy stuffed toy from Taiwan
❤️ the flowers while trying not to think of the poor florist and their bleeding fingers and achy backs
❤️ the meal from the restaurant where their sass-mouthed chefs are kept behind closed doors for the public’s safety.
Or Group B:
❤️ The handmade card you find tucked under your pillow
❤️A flower plucked from the garden and found sitting on your desk
❤️ The simple love note taped to your favourite fresh tub of ice cream in the freezer
❤️ Your phone’s beeping alert about the simple text message that reads, ‘I’m thinking of you,’ with a stack of heart emojis❤️❤️❤️.
Which would you prefer as a gift?
Honestly, it shouldn’t be just one day to display affection to the one you love, when it can be every day…
The Love List!
Yep, I went and dug around for the dirt…
For those who still want more, this is a list I’ve blogged about in the years that have a romance somewhere in them! Believe me, I’m just as surprised I had so many.
Scroll through for the perfect read to suit your mood.
Flash Fictional Moments Of Love (& Other Disasters)
These are super short humorous stories that take 1 to 6 minutes to read. They’re designed to be read while waiting to collect your coffee from your favourite cafe. *Warning: snort-laughing may occur!*
💛 A Novel Group (For that romance reader you’d wanna read this!)
Love Poetry
Just coz it is Valentine’s Day (see, I’m not totally heartless towards V-day)
❤️ Spyglass spy
The Love Vlogs:
💛 Stereotyping the Types of Dating syndromes. They’re more common than you think!
💛 Create your own romantic date crate and make V-Day every weekend.
💛 top 10 amazing romantic sunset date ideas
The Anti-Dating Blogs:
This is for those staying home to avoid memories of you and the Ex-factor.
And you thought I just wrote BOOKS! Pft!
In case someone doesn’t say it, I will, Happy Valentine’s Day.❤️ May you find romance each and every day with the one you love… while reading my stories. (Did I just get my marketing hat on or what!! Hehehe).
Thanks for reading, watching, gagging, and eye-rolling along with me!
**All still images relating to this post’s topic are via the talented & fabulous photographers at https://unsplash.com/ Thanks guys.
