Happy Dumbass Holiday for Sheep

If you are in a good committed relationship, or good marriage, do you really have to be told once a year how and when to be appreciative and romantic?

If you don't know what you want, aren't in a specifically committed relationship, do you need a ridiculous commercial holiday to force you to either lie, which may falsely lead people on, or do nothing, which then hurts feelings? Lose/lose.

Unless others, who may be potential targets of your lies, refuse to sucker for the manufactured, peer-pressure-foisted-upon-the-public-by-those-who-sell you diamonds, flowers, chocolate, cards, and overpriced dinners, holiday, you will end up disappointing people. Especially if you do not go the lying route. But then, even if you do play along and lie, you are buying trouble.

Trumped up days of recognition and appreciation are an aberration of modern civilization. It is a subtle attack on nature and the free market as it exists in nature. If you are worthy of appreciation, you usually know it. If your kids show no appreciation of you without the stupid Mother's or Father's day obligatory observance, then either your kids are ingrates and lack something in their upbringing, or you are a pain of a parent undeserving of kudos, or you simply gave birth to a defective unit and it is not your fault.

The trumped up days only allow sociopaths, psychopaths, and other emotional phonies to hone their skills. Sincerity cannot be forced anymore than affection. These days bring up a disgusting mix of guilt driven pretense and confused conformity in all but the few who actually feel like showing the affection and appreciation anyway, and have the time and money to play the game happily on the assigned day.

Those few have no need to be told.

Maybe this is why I am not attached. Of course, some people are not alone solely for that reason--can't be alone, so they partner with first willing candidate. They in no way like their significant other; certainly do not love it/him/her. I'm unable to commit if I don't believe it, and if I am not sure being with me is the best thing for the crazy woman. Although I have resolved to learn not give a damn if it is any benefit for the other or not.

These guilt trips put out in ads are not good. That is the way charities and government agencies sell themselves, too. As if it is your fault that little Jimmy has perfuddledipophobiaginitis and lives in squalor in a remote corner of Uganda and drinks dirty water. It is nice to help people out. But the tone and usual implication that it is your fault when someone starves or dies of AIDS in a remote land, or even across town, is garbage. It is highly unlikely that it is your fault, and if it is, you already know it.

The fear of not going along with the crowd, of being weird- of being judged cold, heartless, and a misfit-is a tool used to manipulate people. It is a tactic so effective that people can be manipulated to actually cooperate with their own destruction in subtle (and not so subtle) ways.

So, Happy Spend Money and Get Lucky Day. (As if spending money wouldn't bring that kind of luck anyway). Shhh. We are supposed to pretend that is not the case.
Just like we should pretend that looks have no influence on our mating choices.