Ah, Valentine's Day! The day that every male in the United States scrambles to empty their checking accounts by purchasing sexy lingerie, candy, flowers or precious stones! Kinda sad, really. I know women that don't think they are loved unless their hubby/boyfriend buys them something to "show how much they care"!
Don't get me wrong...I fell into that trap for a couple of years when I worked at J.B. Hunt Corporate. In fact, I remember one year (after receiving nothing for Valentine's Day the year before)frowning at Eldon and issuing a rather serious warning before I left for work that morning. "You'd better send me flowers today or I'm not coming home!" The worst part? I meant it! Sure enough, just before lunch time, a guy comes rolling a big cart with all kinds of flower arrangements on it (mostly roses!) and begins calling out names. I can still see the looks on those gals faces that didn't get flowers. It was awful. It wasn't because their husbands didn't love them but because they couldn't afford them.
This year, as we all try to make ends meet and stretch a dollar farther than it has ever been stretched before, I shudder to think what some gals (and guys) must be going through as they rush to spend money they don't have just because we are told they must!
I'm all about a romantic, candlelit dinner for two with great music and maybe even a movie afterwards. I say, what's wrong with having that dinner at home? Maybe he goes by and gets take out and Grammy keeps the babies. Then, after you've eaten and thrown the plastic dishes in the trash, you pop a great movie in the DVD player and snuggle on the couch.
I don't know. I've been at both ends of the spectrum but I realize more and more that we fall into so many "traps" where these kinds of holidays are concerned. It's the small, tiny, seemingly insignificant things that matter most - usually. Bet you can't even remember what you got for Valentine's a couple of years ago. I want to encourage all of us to, instead of pouting about what we didn't get, to be thankful for what we have.
Just my opinion!
Pam
