Valentine's Day

You may not be thinking about this holiday yet. I hope you aren't. Retailers are, though. I was in a grocery store this week and saw an aisle devoted to red and pink. This got me to thinking about something that happened last year around Valentine's Day. I worked with two women. A day or two before Feb. 14, one woman got a bouquet of flowers. I can't remember what she said, but I got the impression she had "reminded" her husband to buy the flowers for her.

The other woman oohed and aaahed and asked where the flowers were bought. I believe she wrote down a phone number. The next day -- lo and behold! -- she had the same exact bouquet. I could be wrong, but I think she went home and told her husband to buy her flowers. At this point, the first woman turned to me and said, "Your husband better get on the ball."

Apparently we had regressed to junior high and didn't even know it!

Nate and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day. Besides the fact we find the "holiday" silly, we started seeing each other on Feb. 13. (No, we didn't want to go out on Valentine's Day when we first started dating. We both felt like that was a jinx or something. And, oh yeah, cheesy as hell.) We still celebrate our "dating anniversary," so that's usually when we got out to dinner or do something fun.

Nate does buy me flowers and surprises me with gifts from time to time. They are usually unexpected and I certainly don't go home and insist on them. Here's the thing: I believe a gift should be just that, given. If you have to browbeat your boyfriend/husband to buy you something, is that a gift? Is that "romantic?" I guess that's up to each woman to decide for herself.