Post Valentine Debrief: The Internet Made a Single Girl Hate Roses
The days before Valentine's Day were tough, at least for me. Valentine's date ideas flooded my 'for you' page. That one video about setting glitters on roses and gifting them to your lover, yeah, I hate that one the most. And I promise you, I am not a hater. I am a vegetarian and I recycle single-use plastic. I am just a proud single girl who thought she was comfortable with the idea of being alone. News flash: I am not. Somebody take me on a date now!
Obviously, I wasn't thrilled about the Valentine's like most couples were. I didn't create prior magical plans to spend a national day of love with my non-existent partner. Yet, the algorithm force-fed me roses, cheesy gift ideas, 12-foot-tall bears and sparkling date outfits. It was tough for a 20-something romantic who have never been in love. 'Cause yes, I do want the bears and the cheesy heart origamis. Yes, I do want to gift my partner roses (eye roll) and date nights and all those bedazzled ideas the Internet fed me. But does the fact I didn't have all of that make me less than a red gown, sparkling white teeth, a hundred roses and a befitting TikTok challenge? The Galentine hashtags would beg to differ.
This year's Valentine was fun for me to watch from the sidelines. As a self-employed single Nigerian woman with a journalism degree, the days leading to Valentine's had me saving videos as a future reference, angry-spamming my best friend with cute couples' brouhaha, and window-shopping the Valentine sales discount. I was a walking Betterhelp ad, cause I could deal with the matching pajamas on Christmas day but not the lacy and chocolatey celebration of romance with a Lana Del Rey song and an intimate backdrop. Kill me now. It angered the romantic in me and if I want to allude to my 'aesthetic' on Tumblr, I would say that it saddened my hopeless romantic.
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