By Beza Kifle
Valentine’s day is that one day of the year when couples have the time of their lives in LOVE. If you’re in a couple, you’re probably pretty busy on Valentine’s day unless you’re single, like me and 66.7% of the respondents on our Valentine’s day survey.
But being single on Valentine’s day has its pros and cons. It’s a day that you’re free to do whatever you want, whenever you want, without worrying about getting something for your significant other. The problem: you have to spend the day all alone, and no one is worrying about getting something for you.
Lucky for you though, I have some great advice for what you should do with your extra free time.
Three of the most basic things to do when you are single on Valentine’s day are crying, eating, and sleeping. While you might do all three–hopefully eating and sleeping more than crying–you have better things to do, like having galentine’s day, spending time with your family, or catching up on work.
The feelings about Valentine’s day are different, depending on your relationship status. Sophomore Mary Parrish Green, our resident single, told me that she spends the day normally. “I used to like it in lower school because we got candy,” she said. “But now, it feels irrelevant.”
In the survey we sent out, students told us about what they do when they’re single. Most people said that they just go about their day normally, but with some extra chocolate and food. One person said, “Usually my sister and I plan a date for our mom and dad. Then we stay home to have a little party with just the two of us.” Another person said that they just lay on their bed and hope that they won’t be lonely forever. Mary Parrish said, “I don’t have a boyfriend so it wouldn’t really make any sense to do anything really special.”
Respondents also gave some great advice for what you should do, although some of these are a little weird, like to “beg and scream and cry for a Valentine’s kiss from anyone you see.” Others said you could go lift weights, get your parents to get you a gift, or play video games. You can also spend the day watching romance movies, wishing you were the main character. (I know you do that so there’s no need to lie!)
You could also do many different things with your friends to distract yourselves from how alone you all are. You could go mini golfing or gossip about drama and the people that actually do have Valentines. As long as you’re doing something, you won’t “wallow in self-pity” like a respondent on the survey said they do. If you don’t have anything special to do, that’s fine too!
The fact is you don’t have to be alone on Valentine’s day forever. If you really want to have a Valentine, then you should go for it! You don’t want to be the person that said that they “feel bad that [they] couldn’t work up the courage to ask someone.” The worst that can happen is that they say no!
But really, this day is about love of all kinds. As someone on the survey responded, “It is a celebration of love. It doesn’t just have to be romantic love.”
