Getting it Right: What Valentine’s Means for Girls
Valentine’s Day is a Hallmark holiday. It’s commercial, it’s forced, and it’s based on a massacre. But the point is: so what? It’s still a day that each woman becomes a girl (yes, we said it) and wants to have the perfect grand romantic gesture. It’s the day when each girl runs through her favorite romantic movies and scenes in her head, hoping that something close to it can be captured by her significant other. From Alexander Petrovsky taking Carrie on a sled ride through Central Park to Noah writing Allie 365 letters. All of it lingers in our brains and makes us crave the romantic that may not exist at all.
For guys, Valentine’s day means: (1) Panic-filled attempts at getting it right; (2) Complaining about the commercialization of love; and (3) Buying expensive presents and/or flowers because that’s the easiest way out. In each of those examples, guys miss the point behind Valentine’s Day for women. It’s not about “getting it right” because the day is not about the GUY. It’s about the girl. It’s about showing her that you care, that you understand, and that you want to spend the time loving her in the way she wants to be loved.
The Curse of “The Thought”
The day before Valentine’s Day (and often the day of), there is a line out the door at stores like Hallmark and Papyrus. Desperate men are scavenging the shelves to find a card that isn’t too cheesy, isn’t too trite, and looks pretty. They think dropping $8 on a card and attaching it to drugstore flowers is the way to a woman’s heart. By writing “I Love YOU” in the card, they feel accomplished and in the right. If their wives or girlfriends look at them with anything less than adoration upon presentation of the card, they get offended. And if that wife or girlfriend gets upset because she wanted something else, the guy says, “I thought it was the thought that counts?”
Well, let’s get something cleared up: the thought does count. But it has to be the RIGHT thought. The “thought” at issue is not that you did something, the bare minimum to get by on Valentine’s Day, but that your actions show that some thought, some real thought was put into your actions. This is why a card bought at a store may not get the endless adoration that men desire, because it’s the bare minimum effort put into Valentine’s Day.
You know what would be better? A hand made card, made sloppily out of construction paper and some glue that showed the woman in your life that she was worth every bit of creative fiber in your body because you wanted to give her something that no one else has. (And no, that does not mean she gets YOU. No.)
Diamonds Aren’t Our Only Friends
Yes, many many women want a piece of jewelry for Valentine’s Day. (Or so Kay Jewelers wants all of us to think). But most women want something that has sentimental value rather than a huge price tag attached to it. This does not mean go to gumball machine and grab the 35 cent ring pop; it means that women understand when times are hard, and they don’t want to receive an ostentatious present during those times. What they do want is something small that makes them think, “Wow, you listened?” So spend the three months before February 14 listening to the woman in your life – we can almost guarantee she’ll start dropping hints at the three month mark.
We Appreciate Valentine’s on a Budget
Men always think the more they spend, the better they have done on Valentine’s Day. The truth is, many women prefer Valentine’s on a budget because it requires more creativity. Any investment banker can take a girl to a dinner at DUO, but can that same man figure out how to cook her a meal while she’s at work? Or see if he can surprise her in her office with lunch from her favorite take out place, complete with Baked by Melissa cupcakes in her favorite flavor? Women want to feel like they were thought about before the dreaded February 14th day hits. And because working on a budget is harder, it shows that more thought and more planning was put in to the day.
So as we near the end of the day that might rightfully be called “The Most Difficult Day for Taken Men” – we offer you the wonderful video by Google as a testament to what we said above. Listen to the woman in your life, understand that she can be a girl in her heart, and put in a little effort to see what would make her feel special. And with that, Valentine’s Day may become “The Day He Got it RIGHT.”
- Editorial Team, BroadStreet Times