February 14, also known as Singles Awareness Day, is probably the most revenue-producing day for Hallmark. The entire holiday is annoying. And I’m not just saying that because I’m single.

Let’s look at my dad. He never knows what to get my mom. My mom doesn’t have space for the jewelry that she already owns. So jewelry is out.

Then there’s the chocolate route. The minefield is that my mom is always on the latest fad diet. It’s practically a lifestyle, so getting her chocolate would be insensitive. (My dad learned this one the hard way.)

That leaves flowers. The problem is that my dad had fallen into this safety net for the past three years. You can only repeat this defensive maneuver a few times before the girl figures it out. What choice is left but a Hallmark card? And that’s what will go down this year; I’m almost sure of it.

I’ve also learned from my friends. My friends who are in relationships always freak out about a week before the big day because they have no idea what to get their significant other. The one nice thing about shopping for guys is that they don’t mind getting chocolate for consecutive years. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, it’s encouraged.

On the flip side, my guy friends who are in relationships are always asking me what their girlfriends would or wouldn’t like. As if I would know. If you know someone well enough, you should be able to pick out something that he or she likes.

But back to my point that Valentine’s Day is annoying. Consumerism in general really bothers me. If Valentine’s Day is about love and the people you care about, then we shouldn’t emphasize all this stuff.

Flowers will die, chocolate will get eaten, and jewelry goes out of style. I think that if you want to capture what Valentine’s Day was originally supposed to be about, you would forget buying gifts and just spend time with people you care about and tell them how much you value their friendships.