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Valentine’s Day: Stigmas, Plans and Pancakes

Here it is: the one holiday that sends single ladies to their couches as they pop in The Notebook screaming to Noah Calhoun to build them a porch, followed by a Mount Everest of tissues. It’s also the one holiday that sends couples reeling to the tippy-top of their relationship peak.

Everyone, welcome to Valen­tine’s Day, full of candy hearts and fluffy bears. It seems impos­sible not to feel the love in the air. But how do the singles and couples plan to spend their Val­entine’s Day? It’s time to open up a box of chocolates and see what’s inside.

First, one must address that it is already half way through Feb­ruary. Secondly, one must real­ize that tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. We can officially conclude that the month of February is going by fast. Since tomorrow is the big day of love, break out the candy hearts, get out the freshly cut roses and summon all the chocolate lovers! There is about to be an overload of sweets a’comin’.

Despite all of the decadent treats and sweet kisses of Val­entine’s Day, how do people go about planning and spending their day of love, regardless if they are single or in a relation­ship? Does everyone on this jam-packed love fest of a day get a teddy bear with “Be Mine” stitched on the belly?

Maybe if they were giving them away for free.

We can wish, right?

There are a lot of stigmas that center around Valentine’s Day. For people who are representing the single life for this holiday, people tend to assume that they will sit at home on their couches and complain how they will for­ever be alone. That’s right; I’m talking to every girl who says she will be a cat lady.

The singles will often feel ex­cluded from the celebration just because they have no one else to proclaim love to. According to www.gettysburg.edu, a Gettys­burg College professor of sociol­ogy and women’s studies, Jean Potuchek, explains how single­ness is often looked at as failure for women, especially on Valen­tine’s Day.

“If many of these women find that singleness is often difficult, it is not because they find their daily experiences of single life difficult, but because other peo­ple’s reactions to or assumptions about their lives are so difficult to deal with,” Potuchek said.

Single women seeing people en­gage in PDA or public displays of affection can definitely affect their Valentine spirit. For sophomore Jessica Costello, it is pointless to even have the holiday at all.

“I just don’t see why you need one specific day to express how much you love someone when you should be doing it everyday,” Costello said.

However, women who do want to celebrate find comfort around other women who are single as well. Single people who have single friends all meet together and celebrate with each other. It is a much better, and positive, way to go about spending Valen­tine’s Day.

Let us not forget about the stigmas of people who are cou­pled off.

However, as many stigmas as there are for the singles, there are just as many for the couples. Valentine’s Day for couples is the one day they can whisper “I love you” in the ears of their be­loved.

According to www.stvalen­tinesday.org, that is the proper way to start the day off. “The romantic gesture is usually ac­companied with an exchange of red roses, chocolates, cards and other gifts,” the website ex­plained.

It is the traditional lovey-dovey way to spend Valentine’s Day.

And yet, as for the students and faculty of the University, they have other plans in mind for this year’s Valentine’s Day.

For students who are going to spend their Valentine’s Day on the single side of the relationship spectrum, they may be found go­ing to the movies, attending their late classes, and working in the Residential Halls.

Senior Tara Cooney will be seeing a brand new film star­ring Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough. She has a very quirky and refreshing attitude about how she is going to spend Valen­tine’s Day.

“I am going to be going to the movies alone to see Safe Haven and indulge in popcorn, and if any hot men want to meet me there, this is your invitation,” Cooney said.

Some students who cannot at­tend the movies are simply in class. Brian Boehler, senior, is keeping his Valentine’s Day aca­demic only.

“I have two classes at night, so I won’t be doing anything,” Boehler said.

However, junior Ashley Paci­fico is not letting work get in the way of spreading the love to other people. Pacifico will be on duty in Cedar Hall on the holi­day, but that doesn’t mean she won’t be celebrating in her own special way.

“I’ll be holding down the fort, and I plan giving valentines to my residents in Cedar,” Pacifico said.

As for the couples at the Uni­versity, some treat it as any other day, and others really want to make some pancakes.

Pancakes, you ask?

Yes.

For senior Christopher Down, he wants to spend his Valen­tine’s Day with his girlfriend… and pancakes. Well, not just pan­cakes.

“I’m going to spend it with ro­mance, chocolate strawberries, wine and pancakes,” Down said.

It’s a new spin on an old tradi­tion on how to spend the holiday.

Professor of communication, Donna Dolphin, doesn’t stress over Valentine’s Day.

“I don’t pay much attention to the holiday, and it sneaks up on me. I’ve been married to a great guy for a long time, and we try to appreciate each other all the time,” Dolphin said.

So what is the big, bolded and underlined, sealed with a kiss, point of Valentine’s Day? Valen­tine’s Day is for celebrating love, on a very wide range.

If you’re single, you can spread your love to your friends and family or hey, maybe even some good food. You can catch the premiere of a highly talked about movie or even give out some homemade valentines to people close to you.

If you’re in a relationship, share it with a special someone who you’ve been with for a long time or make that special some­one of yours pancakes. Who knows, maybe pancakes will be the new chocolate.

IMAGE TAKEN from gallery-pic.com