Seasonal Nag: Guess What Day It Is

Attention all couples and halves-of-couples! Tomorrow is Valentines Day. You are probably expected to buy and/or cook some sort of red-pink-and-white treat for your significant other. If not, you're expected to think of something better, like a new book by her favorite writer. 

For my Insane Admirers: If you buy stuff online, buy me "Save the Butterflies" stuff from my Zazzle store, like this shirt: 

https://www.zazzle.com/black_swallowtail_mothers_long_sleeve_t_shirt-256963581747185373

Or a duffel bag. 

https://www.zazzle.com/save_the_butterflies_large_duffel_bag-256104695525302911

There are over 200 "Save the Butterflies" items on the page, including mathoms, and each design could easily be "customized" into fifty more. Any Zazzle items received will be valued at a bushel and a peck, and repaid with a hug around the neck. 

If you buy stuff in real stores where people can take it back for refunds and buy what they really wanted, of course, the more ridiculous and overpriced the item is, the better.

Some people say the worst Valentines Day gifts are the generic ones--red roses and a box of chocolates, because "It's like you forgot Valentines Day and just grabbed what some sales person sold you at the last minute."

Some say, no, it's the cheap ones, like a $5 giftcard or a generic elementary-school-type notebook. From ten-year-olds that kind of gift is sweet. From grown-ups earning grown-up salaries it's tacky.

Some say the very worst Valentines Day gift is a gym membership, even if you get it for the two of you to go as a couple and your goal is to shape up your own figure. Some say it's still like saying "You're fat." 

Some say the very worst Valentines Day gifts are cleaning or personal hygiene supplies. Even if you think cinnamon-scented toothpaste could be a sexy hint as a change from the usual mint, the message of toothpaste for V-Day could be interpreted as "Your breath stinks."

I once thought the most discouraging gift for an Insane Admirer would be a book about etiquette with the title "DON'T." It didn't work. Insane Admirers persevere through anything except actually changing their habits so that a woman would want to live with them.

Then again, when people care about each other, it doesn't really matter what they give each other on gift-giving occasions. An appreciative look will do.