Written by: Bethiah Getenet Negussie
Well… it’s officially February; which means, you guessed it, Valentine’s day is coming up. This holiday must be one of the most dreaded holidays by a lot people. For me, I don’t know how I feel about this holiday, to be honest. For those love birds, who already are in relationships and in love, this is a great day to express one’s love – although I think this should be done every day and not just on Valentine’s Day. But for those of us that are utterly single, it’s kind of – uhhh well a literal slap on the face. Depending on which side you fall on; whether you love this day or you hate it, everyone deserves a little laugh so here is a story I thought I would never tell.
It was in seventh grade and when I walked into class on Valentine’s Day, the first thing I saw was a beautiful single red rose sitting on my desk. I was shocked and surprised and confused. The first question running through my mind was who put this here and why? I mean it felt nice, someone actually thought about me and wanted to get me a flower, my thirteen year old self was screaming internally. I put my backpack down and sat down on my desk with a beaming smile on my face while clutching the rose. As I wondered who it could have been, I see this guy from the other section of class walking right up to me and with a dead straight face said, “Oh this wasn’t supposed to be for you.” He then calls out another girl’s name and told me he meant to put it on her desk instead and he wasn’t quite sure which one it was. So instead he takes the rose out of my hand, asks me where her seat was, puts it on there, and leaves. I emphasize on how much that moment was embarrassing and it goes without saying that my whole day was ruined. It’s funny now that I think about that moment, what more can you expect from sevenths graders – oh but I do have to say that he did bring me a yellow rose the next day, I guess he had felt bad as well.
I really do hope that all of our Valentine’s Day this year does go at least a little bit better than the tragedy I just described. And may we enjoy the day regardless. And to quote what someone who I can’t really recall now said: ‘Love is much greater than what we feel romantically. It is what makes us sing, dance and makes us human.’ So yes, I do hope we all have a lovely Valentine’s Day in 2019.