Marketing love~

Ah, Valentine's Day!

What better way to show love than to rush onto a store on the way home from work to choose from thousands of cards, one that expresses just the right sentiment. Sign it in the car if you can find a pen in the glove compartment, or hide it under your coat until you get in the house where you hastily scrawl your name before presenting it with candy and a kiss.

The parking lot at the local CVS store in Bridgewater was jammed this evening. There was a mob in front of the Valentine cards. The registers had long lines.

We like to think we are independent, nobody tells us how to think. Yet, like Stepford wives-- and husbands-- we heed the Hallmark message and follow the stream of people to the card rack to choose from thousands, the one card that expresses just the right sentiment. We earnestly read the messages of cards mass produced to send the same sentiment to thousands until we find the one that matches the mood of the relationship.

Long married couples have it down. Keep it simple. It's the everyday love that matters most. A peck on the cheek will do if the relationship is solid. If it isn't, anything done on February 14th is like frosting a mud pie.

The newly marrieds and dating couples look upon this day with anticipation. Romantic visions still untarnished by practicality, they set standards they'll lower three children and a second mortgage later.

Singles see it as a day to slog through without succumbing to the poor me, I'm all alone mood.

Valentine's Day is one day out of 365, that grew through the centuries to become the day to buy "stuff" to show how much we care. Tomorrow, and the other 364 days will reveal the truth about our love.

And yes, I bought cards and candy for hubby and kids. It's what we do to show our love.
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“Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” ~Robert Heinlein