By Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and like most sadistic individuals, I find enjoyment in reading crude and dirty Valentine’s Day cards rather than planning a romantic dinner with my significant other.
While the rest of my friends are planning their romantic dates or their Singles’ nights, I can’t wait to sit in front of my laptop with a bottle of moscato and laugh at all the ridiculous Valentine’s Day cards on Tumblr – which you can certainly bet I will be reblogging.
However, I do wish to partake in the culture that is Valentine’s Day in my own way. With that, I will let you indulge in these statistics from the census bureau. What better way to analyze the most romantic holiday of our time than with numbers?
In 2009, there were a total of 24,973 jewelry stores in the United States that offered engagement, wedding, and other various rings to couples of all ages. In February of 2011, those stores sold $2.27 billion in merchandise.
In 2010, the average American consumed 24.7 pounds of candy.
In 2010, $375 million was the combined wholesale value of domestically produced cut flowers for all flower-producing operations with $100,000 or more in sales.
In 2009, 2.1 million marriages took place which breaks down to 5,800 a day.
In 2007, there were 393 dating service establishments nationwide. These dating services employed 3,125 people and pulled in $928 million in revenue.
And like my undying love for this holiday, I’m sure these numbers have grown tremendously in the past couple years. As a consumer culture, these numbers shouldn’t surprise us. This is why I can’t take this holiday seriously. When did Valentine’s Day become, “how much are you willing to spend on me?” vs. “let’s celebrate love”?
So if you’re planning a simple date with your significant other, props to you. There is absolutely nothing wrong with staying in, buying a six pack of beer, and making drinking games out of the latest season of How I Met Your Mother.
That, to me, says romance at its finest.
In all realness, spend the holiday however it makes you happy.
Be safe, drive safely, protect yourself, and most importantly, celebrate love the best way you can.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
