San Diego OpinionSan Diego Journal: Where Is The Love?
Romance is cool; it’s Valentine’s Day that's over-rated  Valentine's Day: a cash cow. Courtesy photo Should you feel special that Hallmark makes more than 1,330 different Valentine’s Day greeting cards? This year, one billion sheaves of heart-splattered, folded cardboard will be delivered within the six countries that celebrate the annual charade of love. That includes nearly 200 million cards in the United States. The average consumer will spend $77.43 on gifts, according to corsinet.com. E-commerce retailers expect to make more than $650 million on food, candy and gifts. Is Valentine’s Day a yearly day of reflection on the loved ones in your life? No—it’s more like a fiscal bacchanal of ringing cash registers and swooshing credit cards. Happy Valentine’s Day…Cha-ching! Nearly every retail market looks to cash in. Restaurants certainly pour it on: King’s Fish House has a Lobster Lover’s Menu available February 12-14; Addison and Amaya at The Grand Del Mar offer a chocolate-and-wine-pairings class; Valley View Casino says, “The Buffet is where you and your sweetheart will want to dine.” Hotels are promoting sexy packages this week. At the Hard Rock San Diego, guests can order a Whipped Cream Bikini amenity (comes with whipped cream, strawberries and champagne—bikini must be assembled). At the W Hotel, you can pick from three levels of Valentine frolicsomeness: PG-13 gets you strawberries and rose petals; R includes body frosting; and X entails whips and handcuffs. All packages include breakfast in bed, and viewer discretion is advised. Heavenly Cupcakes says its namesake product is what your significant other wants (note: excessive ingestion may result in your “other” growing more significantly than desired). A company called Miss Organized is selling Happy Wife Happy Life gift certificates. For $400, you get four hours of hands-on clutter clearing and recommendations on storage solutions. (For men who can complete a honey-do list by proxy.)  La Costa's waterslide: romantic. Courtesy photo I’m nearly swayed by the Couples In Sync Sliders Cup races at La Costa Resort & Spa. “Our motto is couples that play together, stay together,” says La Costa general manager April Shute. The race will take place February 13-14 on the resort’s 100-foot waterslide at its Splash Landing pool. (“Honey! Be more aerodynamic! Like the Johnsons!”) Sorry, but I can show my affection for a paramour by playing coed waterslide, paying somebody to clean the house or eat a cupcake any day of the year. The pressure to produce goods and services for an artificial homage to romance is crass, costly and counterproductive. I spoke to a local, vocal female TV personality who agrees. “Valentine’s Day is the stupidest, stupidest [expletive noun] I’ve ever seen in my [expletive adjective] life,” says Fox 5 morning weather/traffic reporter Chrissy Russo. Sure, says Russo, getting and giving gifts is cute and nice. And it’s appropriate to commemorate your friends and lovers. “But Valentine’s Day is a made-up holiday,” she says. “It does what I stand against—it materializes the single most important thing in the world: love. You shouldn’t have to spend one dollar to show somebody you love them.” There’s also the letdown that some get from not getting a present on Valentine’s Day. According to corsinet.com, 15 percent of U.S. women send flowers on this day…to themselves. And what if you’re in a really, really justifiably bad mood on February 14? Does it help the relationship to reserve the best table at George’s at the Cove and stare down your partner over a bowl of bisque? Our culture is not lacking for “Days.” Mothers, fathers, grandparents and even groundhogs have one. Thank goodness we stopped at immediate family members and animals that hibernate in holes. For all we know, Hallmark may currently be at work on cards that commemorate days for Second Cousins and Brown Bears. Don’t read this wrong. I’m not down on love. It’s a many-splendored thing, and it makes the world go ’round. Love is like oxygen. Love is a temple. Love is a higher law. If you’re in the mood for love on February 14, go buy something delicious, sexy or both. But love isn’t a holiday that comes just once a year. It’s a year-long celebration, and it’s not measured by price or status. Pick any day of the year to share some lobster, or to go out and pair wines with chocolates. And later, if you’re in the mood, on any day you decide, help her design a whipped cream bikini.
 Ron Donoho About the author: Ron Donoho is Editor in Chief of SanDiego.com. More by this author Subscribe to Opinion:
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