Faye Priestley has rounded up the last of the sales bargains for guys
Introducing Modern Man's new columnist, who goes by the name of John Smith...
Nathan Blades shares his tips for successful Christmas shopping
James Tompkinson shares his experience of the all important Christmas shopping.
The pressure put on people by these companies to do romance in a particular way is nothing short of ridiculous and this is evident with just a cursory glance into any card shop at this time of year. How romantic really is it to give someone a cuddly meerkat with a heart that says “I love you” crudely stitched to its hands, clearly just the result of some warehouse having a surplus of meerkats that they've tried to make romantic to sell for Valentine's day.
Buying a card is probably the worst part of the Valentine's process. Wading through the sea of either pathetically vulgar or pathetically soppy cards makes it extremely difficult to just find a nice simple card in which to write how you truly feel to a person. The truth is that Valentine's day is pretty much just a sham cooked up by the people who stand to make a profit from it, but this is no reason to ignore it. What it is worth taking from this day is the chance to show someone special to you how much you care about them, and there are a million and one ways to do this that do not involve what we imagine to be the “conventional” way of doing romance.
Going out for a meal is standard practice for Valentine's day and is a great way to spend time with someone. While traditionally it seems one should go for a classy candlelit dinner, spending the evening eyeing each other coquettishly over your champagne glasses, if this isn't what you both enjoy, then you have so many other options. If you know your lady would prefer tapas and sangria then the candlelit romance-fest can go hang; if you know she'd prefer a pie and a pint in a decent pub then take her there instead. She should love the fact that you'll have bothered to take her somewhere you know she'll enjoy rather than somewhere that convention says she must enjoy.
So tradition dictates you should go for a lovely walk through the park, sharing an ice cream and whimsically laughing at the world rushing around you two lovers? I'm sure this is perfectly nice, but say your Valentine is a keen musician, then take her to a show of something she'd enjoy, be it an evening of Mahler or dancing the night away in a Céilidh. A museum of something you know she's interested in would be a splendid way of spending the day with her and showing her you care. Even something as simple as finding out what her favourite film is and getting it for you both to watch that evening is a much more meaningful gesture than copying some clichéd idea of what romance should be.
The “traditional” ways of doing romance are a safe bet, it would be very hard for anyone to dislike them, but they are also lazy and unimaginative. Remember that there's more to girls than just flowers and chocolates.
Who are you and why haven't we met yet?
You must log in to submit a comment.
Report