By this time next week, most restaurants have been booked for dinner for two's. And while flower shop owners would have a grand time marking up their prices, laundry shops would then think about operating for 24 hours at least for two days to be at the beck and call of motel operators who would need help to wash their linens as they certainly smile on their way to the bank.
Funny, but it's only during Valentine's Day when I turn to be bigtime cynic. I have and continue to hate how restaurant owners and shopkeepers have conspired to make single people feel miserable on this day, as if only couples are entitled to life's treats and those in the singledom are banished. That's why either I go out of town on this day to shield myself from too much valentine commercialism or I deliberately make reservations in a restaurant for two, and then arrive alone.
A few years ago on Valentine's, I tagged along another single friend to Puerto Princesa in Palawan. For three days, we had a grand time island hopping and living tourist's lives. We would down wine at night as we regale ourselves with our lifestories and, when morning came, we would slip on our shorts and head straight to the port for more exploration. On Hearts Day itself, I don't know what got to us but we made reservations for two at a local restaurant called Kalui. We decided on this because we wanted to snoop around people who would be out on dates that night. Only a few couples, most of them visiting tourists like us, came. There were not much lifeless heart decors or any heart-wrenching lovesong that night. The only sign that it was Valentine's were the single red roses the doorman-host-owner gave to every lady guest. We didn't find that repulsive at all.
More recently, I headed to the rice terraces on Valentine's day since it fell on a weekend and it was fullmoon. It turned out to be a perfect venue for hide from it all. The natives were oblivious of the occasion. There were no deafening radio plugs from opportunist establishments or mushy greetings professing endless love to certain people. It was just a grand peaceful time.
Those kind of trips have made me master the art of being unaffected during Hearts Day. I only want to breathe fire on those people who use the occasion to put one over other people. That's about the only reason why one would find me spitting stinging remarks. I only begin to keep my mouth shut when I start amusing myself trying to find out who's more wise yet silly, those one's who succumb to commercial valentine celebration or flowershop owners who fill their shelves with flowers and ornaments, pray to the gods they will sell even at stupid prices, and then, with no other choice left, just agree on bargain prices the day after for all those unsold.
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