A bad Valentine can leave a permanent scar

By: Rico Albarracin/Columnist

The time of year is here for flowers, balloons, candy and hearts.
People are running around, trying to muster up the courage to show affection towards special people. Couples wait to sit down at a place to eat. After all that, then what?
Valentine’s Day is the one official day out of the year for men and women to declare their love for one another.
With all honesty, this has not been a good day for me in the past. My first true Valentine’s Day memory was in high school, when I found out that my then-girlfriend was cheating on me.
A couple of years later, I was dumped on Valentine’s Day and ended up watching the movie Hitch with a male coworker. Also, a girl stood me up on a dinner date. Her excuse was that she was invited to a movie with her friend. All of these instances occurred within a five-year span and left me a little scarred.
“With some people, I think Valentine’s Day reopens wounds that past loves have left,” said FIU alumnus Agustina Prigoshin. “That pain makes people dislike the day, especially if they’re single.”
What makes people dislike Valentine’s Day? For some, such as myself, it’s the memory of horrible past dates.
“The worst Valentine’s Day I have had is when I had a huge fight with my boyfriend,” said Zeysha Mangual, a junior at FIU. “It eventually led to us breaking up the next week.”
I am in no way insinuating that people shouldn’t show affection to one another. I actually like to take random opportunities to surprise a girl. I just don’t find it necessary to dedicate a holiday to it.
Another reason for the hate on Valentine’s Day may be that some people have a really high expectation for something to happen.
“The fact is that most people go all out with their feelings on this one day,” Prigoshin said.
The pressure doesn’t just fall on people who are single and looking for something to do, but also for couples who look to make this a memorable day.
Am I guilty of having expectations for Valentine’s Day?
Yes. I consider myself a hopeless romantic.
I am someone who listens to love songs, such as “Haven’t Met You Yet” by Michael Bublé. I get sucked into romantic comedies, like How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days and You’ve Got Mail, and I honestly ask myself “Could that happen to me?”
I don’t hate the holiday. It is a way of reaffirming your love to someone. What people do is blow the whole day out of proportion. Maybe what should be happening is that we should tone down all of the hype and keep it simple.
“I have friends that go out and celebrate the day, regardless if they had someone or not,” said junior Patrick Benedetti, a psychology major at FIU. “They would go and be with friends or people they considered loved ones. Doesn’t have to be a boyfriend or girlfriend, just someone you really care about.”
Benedetti might be on to something. If you’re single, go casual and hang out with friends.
If you’re in a relationship, show them your love for them, but don’t overdo it.
Take time to enjoy the people around you.
It may be a holiday that may have hurt you, but why not do something special for someone close to you?
With all that being said, I will probably be roped into finding a way to make this day memorable.
No matter what has happened in the past, I look forward to the day that Valentine’s Day means something special to me.
Maybe I just want to be part of something special.
“People believe that for Valentine’s Day, sometimes miracles happen” Mangual said.