Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples. Instead of feeling depressed and wallowing in self pity, singles should celebrate and enjoy the day, a relationship expert says.
Forty-three percent of US residents over 18 years old, or 95.9 million people, are unmarried. And more than 61 percent have never been married, figures from the US Census Bureau show.
So even if a significant other isn’t in the picture, singles are not really alone on Valentine’s Day.
PHOTO: AFP
“Make fun of the assumption that people need to be coupled,” said Tony Jurich, a professor of family studies and human services at Kansas State University.
Instead of a solitary binge of chocolates, or bemoaning the lack of flowers or a card, Jurich advises singles to get together at a restaurant to celebrate Valentine’s Day, or even throw an Un-Valentine’s Day party at home.
“Make light of it, kind of get even a little bit with the assumptions. Celebrate your singleness together,” Jurich added.
More than 152 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged on Feb. 14, according Hallmark, which offers 2,000 Valentine’s Day cards.
Not all of them will be to spouses and partners. Mothers receive a sizable portion of cards.
There are also anti-Valentine’s Day cards, T-shirts and other items available for those who have strong feelings about the day and want to express their sentiments.
Even couples who celebrate the day are planning to do less this year. Two-thirds of Americans questioned in a Zogby Interactive survey said they expected to spend less than US$50 this year, compared to 7 percent who said they would be more generous and dispense with US$100.
A quarter of people in the US intend to spend nothing.
Although Valentine’s Day is the second-biggest holiday for giving greeting cards in the US, and is celebrated in other countries including Canada, Mexico, Britain, France and Australia, many nations do not mark the day, which according to Roman legend originated in the third century.
It wasn’t until about 487 that Pope Gelasius declared Feb. 14 as St Valentine’s Day in honor of the martyr Valentinus.
For the recently single or those who take the lack of a significant other to heart, Jurich suggested spending the day with friends who are happy with their single status, or someone who has just escaped from a miserable relationship.
“If you can laugh at Valentine’s Day and laugh at the ‘misery’ of being single, you will give yourself distance — and distance will help you stay out of the self-pity thing,” Jurich said.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was