YES FOLKS, it’s the day after that designated day in the calendar for husbands and wives, lovers and other strangers.
Yesterday was that annual phenomena called Valentine’s Day. It was the day when anyone in a relationship, preferably carnal and intimate, must give the significant someone: roses, chocolates, a Valentine’s card and go out on a date, usually dinner in some swanky hotel or restaurant.
What happened after dinner and several bottles of wine usually ends up with both of the lovers having breakfast together and not necessarily at home.
If Christmas is for children then definitely Valentine’s Day is for adults because the end goal of all of the above is that the lovers will perform acts that might result into spending the next Christmas with their own child or in the case of married couples an additional child. Well, this is considering that both the lovers are not advocates of the Reproductive Health Bill and do not believe in practising safe and protected sex. In that case, as the Catholics would say, “Go forth and multiply.”
Yesterday was also the day when the defences of that much preserved and cherished “virginity” was breached (pun intended).
It was the day when that philandering husband bites his tongue and takes his wrinkled, sagging and aging wife out on a date comforted with the thought that this atonement happens only once a year.
And it is always on this day that the so-called “running priest” Robert Reyes runs around with his posse of “idiots” knocking on the windows and doors of motels all over Metro Manila disturbing the occupants and telling them to come out “in the name of God.”
Whatever kinky reasons this so-called “running priest” has we will never know. Perhaps to satisfy his suppressed libido, he probably enjoys giving people coitus interruptus.
But really, what is this phenomenon called Valentine’s Day? Is there any historical or religious significance?
According to that online encyclopedia a.k.a. the internet:
Valentine.s Day, also called Saint Valentine.s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is an annual holiday celebrated on Feb. 14. It originated as a Western Christian liturgical feast day honoring one or more early saints named Valentinus, and is recognized as a significant cultural and commercial celebration in many regions around the world, although it is not a public holiday in any country.
The day first became associated with romantic love within the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines”). In Europe, Saint Valentine’s Keys are given to lovers “as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver’s heart”, as well as to children, in order to ward off epilepsy (called Saint Valentine’s Malady). Valentine’s Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.
So there is some historical basis for Valentine’s Day and it’s not just some marketing strategy of Hallmarks to sell more greeting cards.
Marketing wise, Valentine’s Day has always been a good strategy to sell more chocolates, roses, greeting cards, wine and lately jewellery and condoms. Of course, we cannot deny that occupancy in hotels and motels are up to capacity on this day.
If you’re wondering why chocolates are de rigour on Valentine’s Day as a gift to give to your intended victim, I mean date, chocolates have long been known as aphrodisiacs. So with wine and chocolates plus that dinner in a romantic setting, what’s a girl or boy to do? As Julia Roberts said in that romantic flick, “I’m just a girl standing in front of a boy.”
On a personal note I’ve never actually celebrated Valentine’s Day, preferring to do my seduction of the fairer sex on days when one does not have to compete for reservations in hotels or restaurants.
Of course, this sentimental old fool has this yearning that perhaps even just once before he dies quietly in the bar to experience a truly romantic date away from the maddening crowd on Valentine’s Day. But it seems the old fool still failed to tick off his Valentine’s Day wish on his bucket list.
Guess what, that’s not even the sad part. I’m already in my December years so I can’t comfort myself with the thought that perhaps next Valentine’s Day will be happier; I might not even be around then.
So, belated Happy Valentine’s Day, folks. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
