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| Sunday, 13 February 2005 |
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Valentine's day - love is in the air by Jeevani Mantotta Have you ever tried to find a birthday card in February? I did once (now I buy it early, in January) and found the card shops had been invaded with red and black things covered in hearts and flowers. Valentine's day hits the high street in England like a rash. The card shops do a roaring trade. Little trinkets of affection go on sale all over the place. The price of roses doubles and restaurants start advertising special valentine's day offers - carefully designed to be just within the budget of the struggling student and suddenly being single is almost a crime. When I first got to university I hadn't ever received a valentine's card. Naturally, I kept that quiet. One of my friends, a lovely if slightly naive lad, made the mistake of telling someone he'd never had a valentine's card before in a room full of people, unfortunately, at that moment the conversation inexplicably dropped, leaving one of those silences that happen when you're saying something really embarrassing, and his voice rang out across the room. That year he received a card from every person in the room - including the boys. On the day, despite it being the middle of the week, a party atmosphere inhabits the town. The pigeonholes in college lodges are crammed full of red envelopes. Various organisations run valentine's services. For a small fee you could get the RAG society to deliver a rose and your card to the pigeonhole of your beloved - which is useful if you've lost your heart to someone from another college and don't want to get caught sneaking round there to drop the card off. You can pay the college barbershop quartet to sing a valentine's message to your beloved over breakfast (or Sunday brunch) in hall. Most colleges arrange a 'bop' (disco) for the evening for all the unattached folk to go out and celebrate being single or, perhaps even remedy the situation. Lectures and classes progress as normal (nothing interrupts term time). Once evening falls the streets fill up. First out are couples walking arm in arm and hopeful looking young men armed with flowers. Once they are all safely ensconced in restaurants and cinemas, the single folk emerge - either heading off in large groups to the valentine's discos, or going round to someone's house with wine and chocolate cake to watch videos. (There's nothing like chocolate cake to magic your troubles away). One of the really nice things about college is that you always get something in your pigeonhole on valentine's day (even if it is a photocopy of the musculature of the heart or half a card - I have some weird friends) and there's always someone happy to share your evening of videos and chocolate cake (or even just the cake) with you. After all, at that age, there are a lot more single people around than coupled ones. |
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