Ah, well, actually, I'm one of those who think that Valentine's Day is over-rated and too commercialised. 
These days, not only are you exhorted to 'celebrate' it by doing expensive things like booking a holiday overseas with your loved one, but also to get gifts/cards/flowers, etc for your friends/children/teachers/even grandparents! Just as an example, the boy's teacher was on medical leave yesterday and the stand-in encouraged them to draw Valentine's Day cards for their parents!
I do think it's harmless to exchange cards, gifts and such, in the way it's done with great alacrity among, especially, young people. Better to express appreciation and affection for one day in the year than none at all, I suppose.
In fact, I have to confess that I myself participated in this kind of thing during my JC days. Some of us even made gifts for our (married; Brit) Home Tutor (what the 'Civics Tutor' is called in my school). He must have thought we were mad. He was really one cool guy. He was actually a rather reserved person but when he taught us King Lear, wow, he really taught it well. He would even leap onto the table to proclaim King Lear's speech or sing the sad song of The Fool. Then there was this other guy who taught us Frankenstein and who crept up from under the table wearing dracula teeth, but in most other lectures, he had to take a short cigarette break (which I'm sure is not allowed these days). And our Blake teacher who could talk non-stop. What a bunch of teachers. But I digress.
The thing about Valentine's Day, just as it is for Christmas and Easter here, is that it's become a big-time retailers' celebration. While people are 'enjoying' their candlelight dinners which cost maybe double of what they would ordinarily, the restaurants are delighting in the extra earnings.
It's amazing how all these helicopter rides, expensive meals and flowers etc came about and I wonder what this man, after whom the whole thing is said to be named, would think of them:
These days, not only are you exhorted to 'celebrate' it by doing expensive things like booking a holiday overseas with your loved one, but also to get gifts/cards/flowers, etc for your friends/children/teachers/even grandparents! Just as an example, the boy's teacher was on medical leave yesterday and the stand-in encouraged them to draw Valentine's Day cards for their parents!
I do think it's harmless to exchange cards, gifts and such, in the way it's done with great alacrity among, especially, young people. Better to express appreciation and affection for one day in the year than none at all, I suppose.
In fact, I have to confess that I myself participated in this kind of thing during my JC days. Some of us even made gifts for our (married; Brit) Home Tutor (what the 'Civics Tutor' is called in my school). He must have thought we were mad. He was really one cool guy. He was actually a rather reserved person but when he taught us King Lear, wow, he really taught it well. He would even leap onto the table to proclaim King Lear's speech or sing the sad song of The Fool. Then there was this other guy who taught us Frankenstein and who crept up from under the table wearing dracula teeth, but in most other lectures, he had to take a short cigarette break (which I'm sure is not allowed these days). And our Blake teacher who could talk non-stop. What a bunch of teachers. But I digress.
The thing about Valentine's Day, just as it is for Christmas and Easter here, is that it's become a big-time retailers' celebration. While people are 'enjoying' their candlelight dinners which cost maybe double of what they would ordinarily, the restaurants are delighting in the extra earnings.
It's amazing how all these helicopter rides, expensive meals and flowers etc came about and I wonder what this man, after whom the whole thing is said to be named, would think of them:
More about St Valentine here, and something about the origins of Valentine's Day here. And how he's got mixed up with mythological characters like Mr Cupid.
I also belong to the school of thought that says, 'Every day should be Christmas / Mother's or Father's Day / Valentine's Day, etc. However, as I said just now, such 'celebrations' are opportunities for people to do something nice for those who mean something to them and better to have it done once, twice or thrice a year than never.
Anyway, I do remember that GNH, you gave me a Snoopy Valentine's Day card the year we were room-mates. And Working Mum, you gave me a rose 2 years ago. I certainly have no quarrel with kind gestures from friends.
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