Valentine

[fpb]

Some nice person has sent me a virtual gift of chocolates. This would be just a pleasant way to underline the day, but what the person concerned cannot possibly have known is that this is the first time anyone has sent anything to me for St.Valentine's day in all my life. So thank you very much, Anonymous, you've made my day.

Comments

[redcoast]

I hope they don't celebrate Valentine's day in Italy?

[fpb]

Not in the same way. Of course, Valentines have now come in, like every American idea does sooner or later, but my generation did not use them.

[fpb]

It is known. After all, remember that the reason why it is the day of lovers is that St.Valentine of Interamna (Terni, Italy) is the patron saint of engaged persons in the Catholic Church. It just never was that important until recently. In my time, love and marriage were more often associated with May, high spring. If you think about it, it is rather counter-intuitive to place the day of lovers at the height of winter.

[redcoast]

I kinda thought St. Valentine's day was invented by commercial companies, and they put it in the middle of winter because there was no other holiday around the time. At least that's what everyone says. In Japan, they managed to introduce the holiday as a day for boys to buy their girlfriends red things, and a reciprocal holiday for girls to buy their boyfriends white things, if I recall correctly.

As for me, I often spend much of Valentine's Day alternating between being glad I'm single and feeling lonely. Not a big fan of the holiday, really.