We’ve all heard the incessant debate over loving and hating February 14th. While I see both sides of the argument, I’ve gotta side with those who live and die for this holiday. While I’m not the girl who wears pink or red just because it’s Valentine’s Day, gives out Sweethearts candy, or writes cartoon cards to all her friends, I do enjoy doing something sweet for my boy and getting something sweet in return.
For busy couples, and especially college students, Valentine’s Day is a saving grace from the hubbub of everyday campus life. Valentine’s Day reserves a time for couples, when, on the average day, a fancy dinner and alone time is a lot to fit in with school, studying, and socializing. It’s so easy to fall into a routine and forget to do special little things every now and again for each other.
The most endearing part of the holiday is seeing how hard your boy tries to set up something sweet and romantic for you. This is especially true when your relationship is novel and he still thinks he needs to impress you. 2 years ago my boy (whom I still date) planned a romantic gesture that did not go quite as planned.
The day started off surprisingly warm for a winter day in Massachusetts. As usual he came to my dorm (at our boarding school) to pick me up at 7:20 a.m. for breakfast. For some reason, I’m guessing the abnormally warm whether, I’d decided to wear open-toed shoes, and my boyfriend accidently stomped on my foot resulting in my big toe (the nail part) breaking and bleeding everywhere. Needless to say it was a rocky start to the holiday and he felt awful about the whole incident, even though I didn’t really care, and I had fun teasing him by telling everyone that he gave me a broken toe as his Valentine’s Day gift.
Sometime during that day I got a message from the package place telling me I had a package. I didn’t know whom it was from, so after classes I had my boyfriend walk with me, because it was on our way to our dorms, to go get the gift. I signed for a modestly sized box from 1-800-Flowers.com. As it turns out it was a gift from my boyfriend and being the excited girlfriend it was opened before we made it back to my dorm.
Now first let me tell you what he had originally ordered: a dozen mini roses. However, somehow 1-800-Flowers.com messed up the order, and sent me a small pot of dirt with a twiggy, scraggly-looking bush of some sort.
Although I found the gesture charming and sweet, this boy of mine was so embarrassed and p*ssed off at 1-800- Flowers.com that he took the pot and threw it on the brick sidewalk, then stomped on it and kicked it into the bushes and grass in front of my dorm.
I know I haven’t celebrated that many Valentines day with my boyfriend, this will be the 3rd, but this first one I don’t think he will ever be able to trump. He was so cute getting all mad about how he’d messed up and it was (and totally still is) fun to poke his buttons about it, and remind him how he probably got Beatrice at 1-800-Flowers.com fired for being incompetent.
So, from the couples perspective, it’s nice to see that special someone try hard to make the day great. It didn’t matter that he stepped on my toe or that my flowers were a little unconventional. What mattered most, as corny as this is, was the thought.