As the only reporter at The Daily Item who is single, I have volunteered to write about Valentine’s Day. However, I do not celebrate Valentine’s Day so instead I have chosen to write about Galentine’s Day.
Galentine’s Day is the celebration of love within friendships. It was invented by the iconic Leslie Knope, the deputy director of Parks and Recreation in Pawnee, Indiana. So in reality, it was invented by the writers and producers of the show Parks and Recreation at NBC.
The episode titled “Galentine’s Day” aired in 2010 and since then the unofficial holiday has become popular.
This year I celebrated it at The Cheesecake Factory with my friends, three of whom are in relationships. But that is the beauty of Galentine’s day; we are not focused on romantic relationships, we are there to celebrate our friendship. We spent the evening eating too much food and laughing at old memories.
So while I do not have a strong opinion of Valentine’s day, I love Galentine’s Day which only exists because of Valentine’s Day. By default, I must love Valentine’s Day.
My fellow reporters, however, have contrasting (and surprisingly strong) opinions of this day in which we are told to celebrate love.
Anthony Cammalleri, one of our Lynn reporters, says Valentine’s Day is contradictory to romance. While he still celebrates it with his significant other, he believes romance should be spontaneous. For him, it is the little things in a relationship that equate to real romance, like letting your partner sleep in while you take out the dog.
As Cammalleri put it, “I’m not buying another adult a teddy bear.”
Our other Lynn reporter, Ryan Vermette, had despised the holiday before he became involved in his first serious relationship. He used to roll his eyes at all his friends who celebrated Valentine’s Day with their significant others. Now, his feelings have changed. Vermette and his partner plan to celebrate the holiday by making dinner together. He views it as a day to pause their busy lives and remind each other of the love they share.
For Saugus reporter Charlie McKenna, Valentine’s Day had not crossed his radar until he got into a relationship. He went about every February 14th as just an ordinary day. He now sees it as a major landmark in a relationship. Even so, he stated that he ranks the holiday as a three out of ten on a scale of importance while he believes his girlfriend would rank it as a six.
After conversing with these three men in the newsroom I realized maybe we all overthink Valentine’s Day. Who cares if someone likes or dislikes Valentine’s Day (or Galentine’s Day)? What one couple or group of friends does should only matter to them. The world is controversial enough without strong opinions on how this holiday should (or should not) be celebrated. Instead, maybe we should focus on what matters to us and the people we love.
