V-Day

Happy Anti-Valentines Day!

What do you do when you're single, watching your friends frolick about in a decidedly 'us' versus 'me' manner, on the most ridiculous holiday of the year? One that was invented by Hallmark to earn them money - though i have no idea who would by the cards that proclaim To the one i love or To my beautiful boyfriend in pink bubble writing - either that or it was a collective effort from all of the women-in-relationships who wanted to have a day where they could justly force their significant others into buying them pretty things. A ridiculous holiday that makes anyone who's not in a relationship feel insignificant, inferior and unloved, when in actual fact they have nothing to be worried about.

I have no doubt that there's a reasonable statistic as to how many people are in relationships and how many are single. But i don't know what it is, so i'll just say that i'm sure it's not at all the minority who are un-paired. So who's stupid idea was it to create a holiday celebrating such a minority? I don't care about Saint Valentine. He lived a long time ago. Times have changed. Let's move on.

That said, if i do ever have a boyfriend on Valentine's Day, i take that all back and would be happy with a single red rose. Take note.

Anyway, back to the original question. What do you do on this terrible day? Why, you throw and Anti-Valentine's Day Party!

With two days to plan it, and ten minutes to set up (after eight hours working in a butcher where you didn't get off until closing, then had to attempt a shower with no running water due to a burst water main, eventually giving up and resigning yourself to smelling like chicken), we were stressed. Yes, we had an empty house with no parents, but we also had one huge table and a very small bottle of fizzy drink to occupy it. And no gaurantee that people would show.

Thanks to wonderful friends who came to my aid and brought soft drink, lollies and cruisers, the table filled up. Thanks to the fact that my friends have nothing better to do on a Wednesday night, people turned up. Thanks to the fact that not many of my friends are psychopaths, nothing was broken. Thanks to the lack of time-management of my friends i had to entertain complete strangers until they graced us with their presence, thus enhancing my people skills. Thanks to my lovely friends, people actually had a good time! Thanks to the contents of Loz's fridge, we had strange punch to quench our thirst.

Was it a good party? Well, people came, the predicted couples hooked up and made us all proud and none of the neighbours complained about the noise. I got to talk to all of my mates and nobody paid me out excessively. People said i looked nice :) I got a Valentine's message from a friend i'd been complaining to (my single-ness was annoying me). And at least Valentine's Day wasn't a total bust - by the end of the night i'd had my share of luck in the 'romance' (i'll use the term loosley) department, so i was happy. I'd even been left a 'gift' (again with the looseness) on the lawn which i discovered in the morning. All in all, a good night. Definately.

Verdict? When feeling blue, throw a party. Invite all the couples, even if it's not your first impulse, just to show them what they're missing out on by being taken :P Look good, have fun and forget about the need to pair up and join the queue for the Ark. Single is the new black, baby!

Annie