Shmalentimes

I mentioned a while ago that I recently reconnected with an old friend from university. When I asked him what he'd been up to lately, his response was, "Well, I've been going on a lot of first dates." I laughed, because there's truth there. As a single in the dating world, first dates abound. Second and third dates, however, are extremely rare. In all my months on The Site, I never once went on a third date; a second, only thrice.

So I went on a second date last week which was more of a probablydate than a maybedate. Now we're arranging date number three. For Monday or Tuesday. And herein lies the problem. When he asked when I was free next, I said Friday, Monday or Tuesday. He eliminated Friday, and then sent it back to me to make the final decision. But I don't want to, and here's why:

Monday is Valentine's Day.

I hate this day for a myriad of reasons. There's the typical excuse, the commercialism that has turned a beautiful idea into a day where people are forced to spend dollars upon dollars on flowers and chocolates and cards with naked angel babies on them. There's the fact that for some reason men are laden with the onus of responsibility, so Valentine's basically becomes a day where men let women down and then get in trouble for it. And of course, there's the alienation and loneliness felt by anyone who finds themselves uncoupled on this day of days. That's a horrible thing to feel.

Considering the youth of our probablationship, my natural choice would be Tuesday for our probablydate - Valentine's Day would just be far too much pressure. Right??? I know, but I still kind of want to do Monday instead. Why, you ask? Well, there are two reasons, the first of which being absolutely legitimate. I'm heading out on Wednesday for a three-day work trip. I'm going to need to be packed and rested up, so it would be nice to keep my Tuesday night open.

The second reason, though, I'm rather ashamed to admit. I kind of want to do Valentine's Day this year. My relationships over the years have been wonderful, but they've been a little lacking romantically. And yes, I hate Valentine's Day, but I don't hate romance. I miss it. I want it. I want to feel special and beautiful and desired. I want to be wooed.

So I really wouldn't mind some flowers - even if the only reason he buys them for me is that it happens to be the 14th of February. I'll never admit this out loud, but I secretly wouldn't mind being someone's valentine...