Lavish Romantic Rules
Senior Ethan Ichikawa suprises senior Angel Enciso with flowers
photo by GIOVANNY MARTINEZ
by KAITLYN TANG
Infamous for its usage of hearts, chocolates and flowers, Valentine’s Day is universally known to be a day where couples share their feelings of love and appreciation, yet according to an article by the National Retail Federation, or NRF, fewer people are celebrating this day of love.
For as long as most can remember, Valentine’s Day has been dedicated to the declaration of love for many. Presenting each other with pastries, balloons, flowers, stuffed animals and other assorted presents, it is a day where love prevails and wallets are drained.
However, in recent years, there has been a great decrease in the number of people who have been celebrating this day. According to NRF’s Annual 2019 Valentine’s Day Spending Survey graph, since 2013 it is shown that there has been a gradual decline celebratory spirits of this lovely day, dropping from 60 percent to 51 percent of the surveyors.
“I always stay home and watch movies while eating snacks during Valentine’s Day. The more junk food the better. But at school, I try to give my friends candy or buy a gram from one of the clubs,” said Jazmine Rosas, junior.
Some may link this decline to those who do not have some significant other to celebrate Valentine’s Day with, where an article by the Washington Post elaborates on the fact that in the modern-day, more than half of youths in America do not have a romantic partner.
“Usually on Valentine’s Day, I do not do anything except I stay at home and play video games with my friends,” said Richard Montes, senior.
In some cases, this may be true and to add on to this modern twist to Valentine’s Day, other surprising occurrences arise. “Fewer consumers are celebrating Valentine’s Day but those who do are spending more,” according to NRF. The fault of this leads to the fact that due to the strong economy of the nation in recent years, “consumers are now spreading the love to children, parents, friends, and coworkers,” according to NRF.
“Even among those who don’t plan to celebrate, 11 percent plan to treat themselves to gifts and nine percent plan to spend to get together with other single friends and family,” according to NRF. The increase of spending can be contributed by not only couples who desire to spoil each other, but single people who plan to party or have some fun regardless of the lack of a significant other, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
With a day dedicated to love, people, regardless of having a significant other or not, decide to empty their wallets even further. Whether it is for the sake of self-love or to proclaim undeniable love to someone else, Valentine’s Day is a day where positive feelings are promoted and shared.