The Aftermath of Valentine’s Day

By NATALIA MCGILL

The aftermath of Valentine’s Day can differ for everyone. Some may look forward to the days after February 14th for discount candy and Valentine’s cards that they can give to their friends with claims of “Oh, so sorry! I forgot to give this to you!”; while the others are reveling in the last wisps of romance and binge eating the entire box of chocolates their S.O just got them less than 24 hours ago; at the same time, some are mentally trying to scrub their minds
free of the real life horror story that was February 14th.

I have asked some fellow students at Augustana about some of their best and worst Valentine’s Day experiences, so buckle up and get ready to ride this roller coaster of love.
“Two years ago on Valentine’s Day I was asked to meet my boyfriend for dinner, and then we were going to go out afterwards and meet some friends for a Valentine’s Day party. Not only did I get stood up and ignored for the entire weekend, but I found out the reason he had stood me up is because he was doing hard drugs. We broke up a week later.” – K.
“I started talking to a guy on Tinder over Christmas break back in my home city, and we didn’t get the chance to meet before I left but we kept texting anyways. We had still been talking
during Valentine’s Day and we were getting pretty into each other. Valentine’s Day at midnight he sends me a text message with something along the lines of “Good morning beautiful, happy Valentine’s day, you have my heart”. Something similar at least, and when I opened it I realized I
was in a group message with another girl. I just blocked his number and didn’t look back.” – T.
“I’ve never really had any exciting Valentine’s Day stories, but this year my long distance S.Ohad a heart shaped pizza delivered to me during the evening and we skyped, ate pizza togetherand watched a movie. It was really sweet.” – L.

“I got wine drunk with my friends and watched rom-coms.” -S.

“I’m lonely now, but in 12th grade my boyfriend planned a surprise day for us. We started the morning off with a winter hike in a nearby provincial park, then we went out for lunch and got Sushi. After sushi he took me to a movie, and then we went back to a hotel room that he had rented and when I walked in it was littered with rose petals, individually wrapped home-made chocolates, and other little surprise gifts and notes I had to find. There was champagne, strawberries, and a Jacuzzi tub – we had a wild night and it’s still the most romantic thing anyone has ever done.” – J.

Wild, absolutely wild. But just remember, whether your Valentine’s Day was “good” or “bad”, that ultimately February 14th is both a day to perpetuate capitalism in the name of “love”, but is also simply a day about love. Even if you don’t have a significant other, don’t forget to show
love for your friends and family, and most importantly give yourself some extra love!