Saturday Selects is a series of posts I write on the first Saturday of each month to discuss a topic outside the general bookish theme of the blog. Today the topic is Valentine’s Day.

What’s the day mean to you? Maybe it’s been full of memories? Or perhaps you can’t wait for the calendar to say it’s the 15th of the month? To me, the day means next to nothing. I worked in a grocery store in an upper middle class suburb for a long time. And every year around this time the store would be full of men buying their girlfriends or wives or mothers roses, chocolate, chocolate covered strawberries, and cards. And I just don’t see the reasoning behind it.

I mean, is there anything less romantic than flowers that are going to die in a week? How does buying chocolate or flowers prove you care about or love someone? And why are we so enamored with going out of our way to show it on one day of the year? It’s ridiculous.

I think the whole thing is a game. A game people in relationships play to set the stage for the coming months. They know how superficial the entire thing is, but they partake anyway.

Most of the holidays and non-holidays we celebrate make no sense to me, but Valentine’s Day is right at the top. Not really because I’m interested in telling people what they should or should not be celebrating, but because society as a whole has been trained to believe that Valentine’s Day is about showing how much you love someone. But it isn’t. That’s something that should happen every single day.

What’s your take on the day we celebrate every February 14?