When I went shopping the other day, I noticed that the discounted Christmas items had been replaced by huge displays of Valentine’s Day items. It made me realize that February 14th is only a month away.
It also made me recall how much my late husband disliked the entire idea of Valentine’s Day, which he swore had been invented by florists solely for financial gain and had nothing to do with romance.
I still remember one particular Valentine’s Day many years ago when he seemed more against the whole idea than usual.
“Why does there have to be only one day set aside to show someone you love them?” he complained as he drove me to the supermarket. “You’re supposed to show and express your love every day of the year, not just on the one day they force you into a guilt trip to do it.”
“So what you’re saying then is you’ll buy me cards and gifts for no special occasion at least once a week?” I asked.
“Well, no…that’s not exactly what I meant.”
As we pulled into the parking lot of the supermarket, he handed me a $5 bill. “Here, while you’re in there, buy yourself a nice Valentine’s card from me.”
Talk about unromantic! If looks could have killed, that night he’d have been in an urn on the mantel and my face would have been on a “wanted” poster.
I stepped inside the supermarket and stopped dead. The place looked like a convention for Flower Buyers of America. Men of all ages were carrying bouquets, arrangements and plants. And the poor floral department looked as if a swarm of locusts had attacked it.
I also noticed that just about every man had an, “I have to buy these flowers or sleep on the sofa tonight,” sort of expression on his face.
I ran into more of the flower-carrying men in the wine aisle.
“Now all you have to do is buy a box of chocolates and you’ll be all set,” I joked to one of them who was holding a bottle of wine along with a bouquet.
“I’d rather get my fiancé drunk than give her a sugar rush, if you know what I mean,” he answered with a smile and a wink.
Yep. I knew exactly what he meant.
I picked up the few groceries I needed, but I didn’t buy a Valentine card for myself with the $5 my husband gave to me. No, out of revenge, I used it to treat myself to some chocolate bars – making certain all of them were his least favorites.
At the checkout, my cashier, who was a guy about 18, said, “I’ve never seen so many flowers go through the registers in one day. Is it because you women get mad if your men don’t buy them for you?”
“I couldn’t care less about flowers,” I said, lying, because I actually loved to receive them...even though my husband always said flowers were a waste of good money because they dropped dead in five days.
The woman in line behind me plunked a six-pack of beer down on the counter. “This is what I’m giving my husband for Valentine’s Day,” she said. “I’ll just slap a bow on it.”
The clerk’s eyes lit up. “Wow! That’s a cool gift! I’d sure be happy with it!”
A man in line behind the beer-buying woman said, “I bought my wife seven roses for Valentine’s Day last year, one for every day of the week. I thought she’d be happy with roses and think they were romantic, but after I gave them to her, she wouldn’t even speak to me…because she said I was too cheap to buy her a full dozen.”
“Well, I think a guy should show his wife love all year ‘round,” the young clerk said, “and then make Valentine’s Day really special, too.”
The woman behind me rolled her eyes. “You can tell he’s never been married.”
When I got back out to the car, my husband said, “I’ve been sitting here counting how many guys came out of the store carrying flowers. Would you believe there were 35?”
I nodded. “There are about another 135 inside.”
“How about I treat you to supper?” he suddenly said.
He didn’t have to ask me twice. The last thing I wanted to do on Valentine’s Day (aside from grocery shopping) was cook a meal. So, I thought, my husband just might have had a bit of romance left in him after all.
I yanked my makeup case and mirror from my purse and started to spruce up for dinner.
To my shock, he drove to a local convenience store, which had a deli that also served hot foods like pizza, soup and subs, and handed me $20. “I’ll have a steak-and-cheese sub,” he said. “And get yourself one, too. Oh, and a large side of fries, seeing today is such a special day.”
Personally, at that moment, I thought the woman with the seven roses should stop complaining...
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