My Punny Balentayms

This isn’t just any other day. Who am I kidding? It’s Valentine’s Day!

The text messages I have been receiving have ranged from the normal “Happy Valentines Day” to several forwarded funny, witty or touching texts to something as original as “Happy Halloween” and “Happy Valentines Day, people! Give love on Christmas day!” These messages are sent at a time when Globe unlimitext has risen up to P20 a day. (Them capitalists!) However the texting efforts of almost everyone are proof that this day really is special and in one way or another love is all around us.

At the office, Ms. Thess started greeting people, “HVD.” It’s a normal acronym used in a greeting card company like ours. Of course it stands for “Happy Valentine’s Day.” Some of us made beso. (Darn it, I sound like a kolehiyala!) It’s a modern tribal practice where platonic, bordering on filial love, is transferred from one cheek to another. And then Kuya Mamert went on a “love day” trip by playing really cheesy love songs which as Ms. Lala would describe is awfully “madama.” But wait there’s more! On regular intervals, Joe Di Mango (I don’t know how to spell his name), sporting his infamous sing-song intonation, enters the roster of sentimental songs to give love advises. I don’t know where that CD came from but it kind of made this day more Valentine-y.

Since it is Valentine’s Day, the first thing found on top of the list of our canteen’s menu is SWEET and sour fish. Awwww! (Haw swit!) Was it intentional on the part of our not-so-friendly canteen operators? I guess not.

Wendi told us a while ago about the existence of a certain group who’d rather refer to Cupid’s day as Single Awareness Day (SAD). Come to think of it, V-day is the time to be aware of one’s being single. I mean, when everyone’s pairing up, you see yourself alone. And somehow you feel like the it in the game “open the basket” which you used to play in preschool. (OK, it’s not the best “coupling” analogy since in “open the basket,” people group themselves into three, yet you’ve got to admit that the it and single comparison is accurate.)

The odd-man-out feeling drives a lot of singles crazy. You see, Valentine’s Day has a way of pressuring people to snuggle up with someone who’s hopefully special. And if you don’t have that, you seem to be marked with the pseudo-Scarlette letter “L” for loser which sucks.

Well the thing is, Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate love and each of us is, in our own way, a lover—a lover of family, friends, things, people, animals, nature and, of course, of a significant other. Since love is encompassing, there’s really no room for feeling left out in a day that’s all about love—unless if you’re the man who’s an island, in which case you probably are a loser or just plain lost.

On that note, I’d like to greet you a Happy Valentine’s Day. And just as I replied to one of my texters today you can respond “Happy! Happy?”

(I hope you gave out a Hallmark Valentine card today—at least to your mom. Come on, help us with our sales!)