Valentine's Day is AWESOME

Ancient Rome has contributed many great things to current Western Civilization. Just think of how our lives would be without things like concrete, advanced architectural design, aqueducts, and the framework of an effective legal system. But the contribution that truly brings the Romans to a level above all the other great civilizations is that of Valentine's Day.  The origin of this glorious day lies with the Romans, and the world has been forever changed because of it.

We've got some beef with the way St. Valentine's legacy is currently being celebrated.  There is not quite enough hoopla around this event.  It borders on insanity that holidays like Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving get so much more attention than our national Singles Awareness Day.  The federal government has a laundry list of holidays that they consider "official," and for some reason Valentine's Day didn't make the cut.  I was appalled when I was actually able to deposit my rent check this Monday.  And mail? I shouldn't have received any mail on Monday.  We all know the mail system delivers through sleet and snow, but on the Day of Love? Really? Also, Gonzaga University celebrates Founders Day by canceling all classes, but chooses to remain ignorant of all the great things St. Valentine did in his time and forces us all to attend class and pretend like there is nothing special about Feb. 14.

So what makes this day of love and romance so special? The real question is: What doesn't? For starters, those heart-shaped boxes full of chocolate are always good for a couple days worth of empty calories. And while we are on the subject of adding to your waistline, going out to dinner somewhere way outside your budget and wolfing down a giant steak is also a must. There is always sure to be a killer romantic comedy for us all to enjoy with our special someone. We personally viewed "Just Go With It" together as a pre-Valentine's Day activity on Saturday. The only problem was, as you're probably not shocked to discover, we were each other's special someone. That was OK though, because money spent for Valentine's Day is money well spent.

Americans will spend around $100 each on Valentine's Day, resulting in a $15 billion day for our great country and its less than stellar economy.  A movie will put you back at least $20, and that's before you spend as much money on refreshments as you would should you find yourself in need of total ownership of a Fortune 500 company. Then there is dinner and the outrageous price for those colorful plants that symbolize love and friendship, but are also the ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card when someone screws up. The Valentine gift is the biggest wildcard though. As if dinner and a movie aren't enough, couples also find it necessary to give gifts that vary in cost depending on how much you like/care about/want to impress your significant other. With all this cash flying everywhere, one would think President Obama and his staff could clue into it and integrate it into their economic recovery plan. Instead of handing out billion dollar bailouts to companies so they can continue to issue gargantuan bonuses to top executives, Obama should implement a stimulus package that includes one Valentine's Day per week. This would, in our partially educated opinion, jumpstart the economy like a 10,000 volt battery on a 1992 baby blue Ford Tempo.

Valentine's Day is a 24-hour event that turns guys who were once ultimate bros into designer-jean wearing, well-groomed softies who will do things as outrageous as go to a Build-a-Bear workshop to construct a "Love Bear" or even film themselves butchering a remake to a classic romantic country music video; and we think that's awesome. 

Since we don't have a significant other, we decided to live the dream vicariously and just take in all the PDA action, emasculated males, and overuse of the color pink from the sidelines.  We weren't disappointed, Zags, you took romance to a new level on Monday and we loved it.  Girls, there's not much you have to do to change on Valentine's Day, it's more like a one-day fairy tale for you.  And fellas, if you can somehow avoid the unforgiving clenches of this day, that's pretty impressive, because we sure can't.

In the words of Ryan Howard from The Office, "anybody can be Prince Charming one day a year, with the dinner and the flowers and all that, but you know what impresses me … when a guy can do that no times a year."

John and Tony are juniors.