SAD: Singles Appreciation Day

Valentine’s Day each year appears to be dominated by two kinds of people. Firstly, the couples who are half-sickening, half-cute, proclaiming their love for each other by Instagramming their romantic meal and the gifts they’ve bought for each other. Secondly, there are the anti-Valentines, those who refuse to participate in it and lament the day as a consumerist, commercial, downright ridiculous excuse for a holiday.

This leaves single people feeling as if they either have to feel sad that they’re not in a relationship, or that they have to hate the day on principle. However, the 14th of February for singles does not have to be a choice between these two attitudes. Valentine’s 2015 falls on a Saturday, so there will be plenty of other things going on. Call it the perfect excuse to go out and have a great night with all the other thousands of single people in Manchester.

Girls could alternatively choose to start celebrating ‘Galentine’s Day’ (as seen on US TV sitcom Parks and Recreation): Celebrated a day before the 14th, you go out for brunch with your girlfriends, and give each other gifts. What could be better? This can be for those who are in a relationship or not; it is a day for celebrating your friends, who are arguably much more important than your other halves anyway. As the show’s protagonist Leslie Knope explains, “Ovaries before Brovaries.”

This mentality can be extended to the 14th as well. Instead of thinking of Valentine’s Day as a day for romance, think of it as a day of love. Use it as a chance to tell your family and friends how much you love them and how important to you they are, and this automatically makes it a day filled with positivity, whether you are in a relationship or not.

Singles should not be excluded from Valentine’s Day, so reclaim the day as a happy one, and if in doubt, just go and see Fifty Shades of Grey.