Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day has never been my favorite holiday. Mostly because, as I look back to my middle school days in particular, any memorable moments/events/sagas have been so "In A Bad Way." I remember the days of Roses 4 Charity (i.e., buy a rose for $5 from the Student Council to donate to a Good Cause, i.e., show who your true friends are). Actually, in eighth grade I got a Rose 4 Charity from my crush (I knew it was from him, although in reality it was signed "anonymous" - I assume, in retrospect, not from the faculty), although later in the day my happiness was crushed because as I received a half-dead Rose 4 Charity, my best friend received a non-anonymous dozen roses from him... a preface to their 8-year dating relationship slash eventual marriage. (Not a joke.)

This morning I discussed with my beloved roommate the (again, tracing back to middle school) predicament of finding a "valentine" in an appropriate amount of time in which to actually have a legitimate valentine on Valentine's Day. For example, it is not appropriate to expect a legitimate V Day from someone who you have been dating for one week. We decided non-arbitrarily that a legitimate V Day couple must be together for at least one full month. This makes the time between January 14th and February 25th very bleak (again, non-arbitrarily assigned... this is the amount of time that it takes Valentine's Day flowers to die and crushed dreams to be rekindled). Incidentally, I was extremely excited for this year, having a legitimate Valentine (however many thousands of miles away) and having put middle school behind me.

But wait. I am actually still in middle school. And middle school in San Jose cannot be equated to Roses 4 Charity private school Valentine's Day in Charlotte, NC. In middle school already, there are already more individuals in relationships (tongue-in-cheek) than not, and all the drama of a budding telenovela. They walk around with their candy and their balloons and stuffed animals and entitlement... (Can you ask the people who bought these for you to buy you a pencil to bring to class every once in a while?)

Early signs that I was in for a long day: (1) I arrive at school at 6:15am to one of my teacher-friends at the copier making a subplan so he can escape. (2) Ten minutes before first period, Mario the Attendance Clerk and Badass of Burnett made an announcement, "Hello, students. Just a reminder that if you have any Valentine's Day items that are very large and/or distracting in the classroom, you need to bring it to the office immediately." (3) Five minutes after my second class walked into the classroom, I had given five warnings about putting the Valentines on the floor and leaving them there. Somehow thought it would be lucrative to give a sixth warning to a particular student, who incidentally found it lucrative to call me a bitch.

Happy Valentine's Day to you, too.

Lunch: cried.

After school: cried.

Woah. Kind of like every other Valentine's Day...