Perks

I have spent exactly one Valentine's day as a not-single person.  That was not even my best Valentine's day (actually, thinking about it now, that day was kind of stressful and not-great).  My favorite Valentine's day was last year.  I was in Farmington, CT, for a grad school interview, and I was staying in this wonderfully charming inn where, thanks to an unforeseen conflict of sexually-ambiguous names, I ended up with a room all to myself.  It was wonderfully romantic, just me, the freshly-fallen New England snow, a queen-sized bed with fresh sheets, and a flat screen TV that got all the channels.

As many of my friends will, like me, be flying solo this February 14th, I thought I would enumerate some of my favorite features of a Valentine's Day alone (and by "alone" I mean literally by myself, not just "single").

1. Sweatpants.
2. All of the neighbors have plans so the laundry room is ALL MINE.
3. I can eat spicy Indian curries for dinner without fear of mood-killing gastrointestinal complications.
4. I can have seconds of the spicy Indian curry without someone being like, "really?  you're going to eat all that?"
5. In bed by 9:30 pm (although, I guess some couples spend their V-Days this way as well...wink, wink.)
6. Did I already say sweatpants?

Maybe I didn't have as many perks as I thought.  I guess if you're not in a relationship or elementary school, Valentine's Day is kind of just another day.  I will say that I'm not anti-Valentine's Day, but I am anti-anti-Valentine's Day, in that I tend to steer clear of activities where the theme is "we're single so let's have a girl's night and talk about how boys suck and how love is stupid!"  Probably because I don't care all that much, and I'm actually a fan of people loving whom they love if they're happy about it.

Be happy, and Happy Valentine's Day.