post valentine thoughts

a week before the valentine's day isip ako ng isip kung pa'no ang valentine's day sakin last year, considering that it was the first time after five years na meron akong karelasyon. i could not remember it being special or romantic. it's not like me to celebrate valentine's day. buti natatapat ako sa mga karelasyon na either walang pang-valentine o hindi maka-valentine which made it easy for me so i need not pretend or force myself to celebrate.

going down the stairs this morning, i saw a bunch of roses my sis' boyfriend gave her and so i recalled that kai actually gave me a rose last year because my brother told him to. otherwise, hindi naman nya maiisip yun on his own.

yesterday over lunch at the office, one of my colleagues kept muttering we're not loveless because we have our children. then i bluntly asked, "are you justifying not having a date today?" she said no, just stating a fact. ho-hummm. i got texts and personal greetings but i couldn't get myself to greet people back, it was easier with texts kasi pwede namang forwarded message.

i don't believe in valentine's day. i just think that one does not need a special date to express one's love. everyday for me is love day. one does not have to choose a day or time of the year when one says 'i love you' to a loved one, whether they're our parents, children, friends or sweethearts (but mostly, sweetheart). dala na rin siguro ng pagiging ex-actibista kaya kasama na sa dahilan yung commercialization issue.

ma-traffic, maingay at puno ang restaurants pag valentine's day. and i hate crowds. pati motels fully booked pag ganong araw. which reminds me, ngayon ko lang na-gets yung text ni richie na "buti na lang 2 lang kami ni i s bhay". valentine's day is also the time na kahit pagkaganda-ganda, pagkamahal-mahal, pagka-elegante at sobrang bagay sa'yo ng damit mo eh baduy pa din magsuot ng kulay pula.

but then, sa totoong buhay eh i have one simple but pressing reason kung bakit ayaw ko ng valentine's day which i admitted to my colleagues in the office yesterday. kasi hindi ko alam talaga ang tamang greeting, happy valentine? happy valentine's? happy valentine's day? the last one is too long. so ano ang maiksi? somebody said, 'happy valentine' like "hapy new year".

which brings me to other things which got me confused like i never used the idiom "add insult to injury". it was only in october last year that i was finally sure it wasn't "adding salt to injury" (ask richie, she knows the difference). o yung tinatanong ng pari before the actual kasal when he asks if there's anyone who is against the union to say it or to "forever hold your peace/piece."

for so many years i pronounced shepherd sheFerd because of the ph-f rule, yun pala eh exemption ang shepherd. so you say it with a P. cada-ver or ca-daver. broc-coli agains brocco-li. respit or respayt for respite.

so yun, kaya pala ayaw ko ng valentine's day.