Hearts and Flowers...and Hallmark

First off, greetings and salutations to the newest members of my overcaffeinated reality: Erich and CrewsClues. Grab a cuppa and stay for a while; the sugar and creamer's over in the corner.

And a happy happy birthday to JohnnyB. You're old now, babe. Welcome to the club.

Ugh. Tomorrow is Sweetest Day. The Hallmark Holiday.

I used to despise this holiday because it just seemed to be a scam to make a few extra dollars for the greeting card, floral, and chocolate industry. Valentine's Day just wasn't enough, I guess. And I always seemed to be single by the third Saturday in October, no matter how blissfully happy I had been weeks before. So I guess that means I get left out in the cold on the celebration thing.

I don't think so.

I reclaimed the holiday as my own for a couple of years, and gave flowers and candy to who the hell ever I wanted to. My friends - people that made me happy to be alive. Who needed a boyfriend? I had more than my fair share of friends that just happened to be of the male persuasion, and they'd lasted a lot longer than any of my semi-significant others.

Little did I know I was closer to the actual origins of the holiday than the flower shop down the street had led me to believe.

The Downtowner ran a two page special section for Sweetest Day this week. It consisted of: a) advertisments for jewelry stores, card shops, romantic restaurants, and other stores running Sweetest Day sales; b) "articles" about gift giving ideas and how to shop for diamonds, all featuring the advertisers prominently; and c) a three paragraph sidebar about the history of the holiday.

It seems that back in 1921, Herbert Kingston from Cleveland decided that the city's orphans and shut-ins were too often forgotten and neglected, so he decided to send boxes of chocolates to the local hospitals, nursing homes, and orphanages. As time went on, more and more Clevelanders joined in this tradition of giving small gifts on a Saturday in October, and the celebration was broadened to include everyone rather than just the underpriveleged. The day was given the name Sweetest Day, and has continued to spread to other cities in the country as a day to express our thoughtfulness and affection with gifts from the heart, as a reminder that a kind word or deed enriches life and gives it meaning.

This information, incidentally, was provided by Godiva Chocolatier. Not that they're profitting from this holiday. No, no, not at all.

I think the original idea is a beautiful sentiment, but like most holidays in this country, something got lost in the transition. Yes, I agree that one's significant other would be included in the spreading of kindness, love, and good cheer, but if you look at the way the holiday is marketed, you would think that the holiday belonged exclusively to moony-eyed lovers who crowd all the restaurants and buy each other tokens of their affections.

(One of the articles in the aforementioned "special section" of the paper suggested that lottery tickets were a great gift idea. I can see it now. "Honey, I love you so much. Here's a scratch-n-win." Ooh baby! Someone's getting lucky tonight!)

So, to all of the single people out there, let's take the holiday back for ourselves. Call up a friend you haven't seen in a while and go out to dinner. Stop by all your loved ones' homes and shower them in Hershey's Kisses. Buy flowers and give them away to complete strangers. The day's for everyone, not just the cute couples holding hands and walking slowly down the sidewalk.

I've got to stop. I'm starting to sound like Chicken Soup for the Single Person's Soul or something. So much for my cynicism.

Probably no post on Monday, since I will be taking a vacation day, and will hopefully be out playing in the crisp autumn air. Have a good weekend, all. I'm off to have spaghetti, watch movies, and play Trivial Pursuit with Zappagirl and Timmy. (REMATCH!)