Shakespeare said, “Love comforteth like sunshine after rain.” For some people, love means buying gifts for those special to them on Valentine’s Day. This year, the National Retail Federation expected that consumers would spend $23.9 billion on the holiday.
Kendall Flower Shop is one of many flower shops in the Boston area that was busy preparing for Valentine’s Day. And at Boston University, the Graduate Medical Sciences Student Organization (GMSSO) celebrated the holiday with the event, Send a Rose! GMSSO Valentine’s Day Flowers.
Boston University philosophy professor, Daniel Star, said that although love is “mysterious,” it’s important to people.
“We’re not sure what [love] is all about, really, when we start thinking about it,” Star said.
Star quoted the philosopher Iris Murdoch, “Love is the extremely difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.”
Send a Rose! GMSSO Valentine’s Day Flowers took place on February 8 from 8:30–2:00 on Boston University’s Medical Campus. Taylor Jazrawi, the secretary of GMSSO, and Jonathan Clerveaux, a student representative for GMSSO, co-planned and hosted the event.
Jazrawi said students and faculty who wanted to send a rose filled out a form before the event, and GMSSO emailed those receiving a rose to pick it up. Senders could be known or keep themselves anonymous. The event was Clerveaux’s idea, and he said he hoped the event would create a “sense of community.”
Daniela Pinto, the general manager and head designer at Kendall Flower Shop, said Valentine’s Day is a “crazy” and exciting day for them, and the preparation involves many sleepless nights.
“It’s our biggest day in the flower industry,” Pinto said. “We spend the whole year preparing for it.”
Around 100 roses were sent out during Send a Rose! GMSSO Valentine’s Day Flowers and Jazrawi said the GMSSO budget funded the event. Jazrawi and Clerveaux hoped the event would spread good feelings around campus.
“Especially in such a difficult academic environment, it’s nice to just have something that makes your day and makes you feel so wanted and warm,” Jazrawi said.
Pinto said around 20–25% of orders at Kendall Flower Shop on Valentine’s Day come from college students. The National Retail Federation found that 55% of those aged 18–24 plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and they expect this demographic’s average spending to be $170 on the day. This demographic’s average expected spending is lower than those aged 25–54 and higher than those who are 55 or older.
For people wanting to express how they feel about someone, Star said Valentine’s Day and the ritual of giving flowers on the day could provide guidance.
“If you’re feeling a bit unsure as to how to express your feelings, then it can seem easier if there’s a day where there are rituals for doing that,” Star said.
The National Retail Federation expects flowers to be one of the more popular gifts this Valentine’s Day, with 37% planning to buy them.
Pinto said she thinks the ritual of giving flowers on Valentine’s Day is popular because it’s “tradition,” and the holiday is a “good day for giving love and flowers.”
The giving of gifts and flowers on Valentine’s Day reminded many students in GMSSO of high school. Jazrawi said the idea of Send a Rose! GMSSO Valentine’s Day Flowers “brought back a lot of good memories and good times in high school.” And Clerveaux said he hopes the event evokes “a nice feeling from high school.”
Because of the pandemic, Star said it could be nice to be reminded of the past through events like Send a Rose! GMSSO Valentine’s Day Flowers.
“Especially since we’re going through a time when it’s really hard at college, I imagine, dealing with COVID,” Star said. “It can probably be really nice to have that kind of nostalgia.”
On Valentine’s Day, people don’t just buy flowers for romantic partners. Pinto said they also get them for friends and family to celebrate “love in general” and “it’s really cute.” She hopes Kendall Flower Shop will get around 100–150 orders and have a lot of foot traffic in their main store in Cambridge and their new location in Somerville that is opening for Valentine’s Day.
Star said Valentine’s Day is an opportunity to express and celebrate romantic love and that “romantic love is something that’s extremely attractive to pretty much everyone.”
Clerveaux hopes Send a Rose! GMSSO Valentine’s Day Flowers “brings everybody closer together.” And Jazrawi hopes the event makes people feel loved.
“Sometimes people forget to show others how much they appreciate them,” Jazrawi said. “It’s nice to be reminded how much you love someone, but also to be reminded how much you’re loved.”
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