This past weekend, a scourge came and went. I hesitate to bring it up, in case you were unaware of its existence, but nonetheless, I feel I should warn you about…
Sweetest Day.
I will freely admit I am not a huge fan of most holidays, and, yes, I’m one of those people who has a particular disdain for Valentine’s Day.
However, I don’t hate Sweetest Day because I dislike Valentine’s Day, nor do I hate it for the same reasons.
Despite how I feel about Valentine’s Day, I understand its purpose. It’s a day for those who have someone special in their lives to be particularly devoted to that person (and annoy the living hell out of us single people, but I digress).
In other words, Valentine’s Day is celebration of a relationship, and, except in the obvious ways, is not much different than Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Bosses’ Day, Teachers’ Day, and so on.
The reason I hate Sweetest Day so much is that it’s the same damn holiday. Think about it: Who is your Sweetest but your Valentine?
If you’re in love with someone, then you’re already letting them know how special he or she is to you (and most likely buying gifts) on his/her birthday, your anniversary and during the holidays in addition to Valentine’s Day, at the very least.
Hence, there is absolutely no need for Sweetest Day except for retailers to bilk more poor lovers into buying even more crap to “show their love.”
You already know I’m not one of those who gripes about consumerism, “affluenza,” or anything along those lines. But I think that Sweetest Day is really scraping the bottom of the barrel. (Furthermore, I’d be really concerned about dating a person who insists Sweetest Day is on par with Valentine’s Day; you run an excellent chance of being broke in the near future.)
So do yourself a favor: If you’re in a relationship and you can get away with it, pretend Sweetest Day doesn’t exist. Don’t fall for the ads and ignore the signs outside the flower shops, candy stores and jewelers.
With any luck, we can stop this sham of a holiday before it starts to catch on.
Commentary holidays
I must say, I do agree inpart with most of what you wrote here. I am a person who enjoys receiving gifts for no reason, like most, butt sweetest day was made for the men in this world that go all out for the women during Valentine’s Day and receive nothing but a thank you from it. Sweetest Day is their payback, or suppose to be. Sweetest day has nothing to do about the women except the fact that they are the ones giving the gifts. I personally need a holiday or a special event to give something to my husband, whether or not that is selfish or thoughtless, I am just that way. Sweetest Day is for the type of people who are just like me.
I never heard about Sweetest Day being a male-centered version of Valentine’s Day. That would be interesting, but whenever I’ve seen it advertised, it was always by the same businesses that make a huge deal out of Valentine’s, with the same type of marketing. I know that guys do like candy, but I don’t know if that is really what most of them (us) want on a designated day. Similarly, I have never seen a Sweetest Day sale at a hardware store or a steakhouse or any other (stereotypical) man business. So even if you’re absolutely right about it being for men, it still isn’t treated that way.
And, there is a day that some people have, well, explicitly designated as the male version of Valentine’s Day. You can read about it if you’re interested.