> > > > Why don't people also use the day to let their families know how much they care?

A lot of families do. But I understand that this was a tangential question.

> > But maybe I'm just the only person with sense on the entire planet.

Darien, gotta love your humble rants.

> Why can't people do things that you'd think of doing on Valentine's Day simply for the sake of doing them, regardless of the day?

Who says they don't?

> Why are (especially) husbands and boyfriends pressured into doing something special on this one particular day, even if they don't any other day of the year, except perhaps Christmas and/or a birthday?

Speaking of tangents, reading this brought to mind a point made in the robodog thread about how society has come to value independence to such an extreme that the value of *dependence* has been forgotten. Reading what you have said here drives home how much the first part of that (our iron grip on independence) pervades our attitudes about things. Your objection seems to be very much a resentment that a holiday not of your own making imposes demands upon you, or at least upon people in general. People should be free from such a burden, right?

But holiday responsibilities are brought on ourselves. Valentine's Day didn't come about because some world leader or lawmaker or judge somewhere stood up and demanded the holiday and its traditions. It wouldn't have made sense anyway -- as already demonstrated in this thread, the holiday is so slightly connected to St. Valentine that few actually know what they are. But somewhere, somehow, traditions began. They began because some people thought they would be nice, and they caught on because other people liked the idea, and eventually it bloomed into something popular enough that commerce sprung into the equation, resulting in marketing, resulting in a further pervading of the holiday traditions.

It only works because people agree to it on an individual level. If you don't like it, don't play along. Of course, it may not be that simple, because maybe those you would celebrate it with are among those that value the holiday and wish to celebrate it, which pretty much necessitates your participation. If that's an undue burden of unwelcome responsibility, it's not the holiday's fault -- it's yours for getting into a relationship where a fistful of flowers once a year is already more of an investment than you want to make.

I am understanding of those who are saddened by the holiday for the reason that it calls attention to their own lack of a fulfilling relationship in their lives. But I'm irritated by those who choose to deal with that by actively protesting the holiday, as if one can only deal with one's own unhappiness by imposing it upon others.

And for those who celebrate the holiday but are stressed by it, like LaZorra's coach, I suppose that isn't the holiday's fault either. It can happen anytime something goes wrong with anything anybody cares about. If one cares about anything for any reason, and something goes wrong -- preparations are not in order, or whatever -- that's a source of stress. Doesn't matter if it's a world champion figure skater that injures herself just before her last Olympics, or a webmaster late in getting updates ready for Stupid Day. If we're to solve stress problems by removing the things we get stressed about, what can possibly be left in life but things we don't care about?