Happy Singles Awareness Day!

I was called in to work on the most dreaded day of the year. Worse than Thanksgiving, Christmas or even New Years Eve. For any restaurant employee Valentines day sends shivers up your spine and causes you to break out in a sweat. In my restaurant we were expecting over 400 guests and the tension amongst my co-workers was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. For this evening we rented small tables and squeezed as many people as we could in every nook and cranny of our restaurant, both inside and outside. Once the carnage was over I couldn't help but wonder why people are so keen on this "holiday"? Why do men pay three times more for flowers? Why do people come out to eat on a night where they are going to be squeezed at tables 6 inches from each other? How is this romantic? I've heard several theories from my friends. One suggested that because Valentines day typically falls upon the man in the relationship (and many men don't feel comfortable cooking) they feel this to be the best way to treat their significant other to something special. Another suggested that it is the women who are urging their male counterparts to take them out so that they can get dressed up and be seen. Whatever the reason is, I have to say that a romantic night to me is staying as far away from the restaurants as possible and simply staying in with a good movie or game. I guess that I'm just out of the loop somehow.