{"id":20722,"date":"2024-02-27T18:11:31","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T02:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/?p=20722"},"modified":"2024-02-27T18:12:03","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T02:12:03","slug":"valentines-day-is-for-your-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/valentines-day-is-for-your-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Valentine’s day is for your friends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by: Hannah Field | News Editor<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019re in elementary school again \u2014 nearing the final stretch of winter \u2014 it\u2019s cold and gray outside, typical of February weather. Inside the school, however, it\u2019s warm and cozy, with heart streamers dangling from the walls and artwork on the whiteboards. The students\u2019 cubbies are packed with cardstock and goodie bags, a reflection of the Valentine\u2019s Day cheer.<\/span><\/p>\n

The holiday isn\u2019t as easily understood by children, who have no experience with romance and its faults. They have yet to learn the cost of an expensive dinner or the difficulties of planning a perfect excursion \u2014 they haven\u2019t had to worry about finding that flawless gift for your soulmate or even how to find a soulmate in the first place. To the children, the holiday is about candy, the color pink and friendship.<\/span><\/p>\n

For these kids, Valentine\u2019s Day will likely flip, the way it has for many adults, and turn into a pro-corporation, anti-single-person, couple-schmoozing money pit. Couples are expected to blow hundreds on extravagant presents, maybe even some diamond rings, and spending Valentine\u2019s Day alone usually culminates in classic movie reruns and ice cream on the couch \u2014 Titanic, anyone?<\/span><\/p>\n

Nobody can really be blamed for sighing at the sight of dozens of flower vendors standing on street corners during February, trying to finesse desperate men into overpriced bouquets. More than half of American adults think that Valentine\u2019s Day isn\u2019t a <\/span>\u201creal special occasion\u201d<\/span><\/a> and it ranks low \u2014 if not lowest \u2014 on the list of top ten favorite holidays nationwide.<\/span><\/p>\n

Truly, how many people outright say that Valentine\u2019s Day is their favorite holiday?<\/span><\/p>\n

I do. Valentine\u2019s Day, for as long as I can remember, began years ago as an event built off of love, kindness and acceptance. I was excited to appreciate my friends and classmates \u2014 and it only grew with me. I love gathering my friends and baking with them or for them, offering little gifts to showcase my respect for them. If they\u2019re single, I make a note to do it in a more significant fashion. I try to tip waiters who work on Valentine\u2019s Day more; I try to say \u201cI love you\u201d to people who don\u2019t hear it as often as they should.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve long since lost sight of what we practiced in elementary school, blinded by money and out-doing other couples. At its core, Valentine\u2019s Day should just be about love and peace \u2014 not competition.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reminder: men like flowers too \u2014 they\u2019re just waiting to be asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1094,"featured_media":20723,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1791],"tags":[2149,2156,599,2183,928,2181,80,2182,1754,2180,662,1933],"class_list":["post-20722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion-special","tag-february","tag-february-14","tag-flowers","tag-friend","tag-friends","tag-friendship","tag-gifts","tag-kindness","tag-love","tag-peace","tag-valentine","tag-valentines-day-2"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}