The sucky thing about love…

It’s Valentine’s Day and I’m filled with angst. I have always been this way every time February 14 comes around and for good reason: everyone is acting stupid about mundane things whenever V-day arrives. Is there a scientific origin to this irrational and extremely annoying state that people in love and loveless find themselves in every dang year? If there is, somebody please tell me so I can be a bit more tolerant of the poor chaps (me, included) who make a big deal out of the death anniversary of a guy who, in ancient times, married couples secretly so the men wouldn’t be shipped out to war and die!

I am a member of the NBSB Club. No, it’s not an affiliation of boy band hounds and for the non-jologs out there, it means "No Boyfriend Since Birth." I have never been in a honest-to-goodness relationship before and I don’t think I will be entering into one soon. I won’t be a hypocrite and say I’m happy being single and I have never wondered how it feels like to have a guy hold your hand while you’re eating sweet taho. I listen to mushy songs on the radio and plug my ears with earphones so no one will know it’s Teri Desario singing "It Takes A Man and A Woman" on 94.7 Love Radio. I have always been perceived as someone sensible, a no-nonsense woman who sees things as they are and tells it like it is, minus the B.S. However, I am not above feeling pangs of longing every time I watch Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa in "Pangako Sa ‘Yo." I am a girl and I long for male companionship, too. Being single and dateless on Valentine’s Day is a state I have long been used to. A major shocker would be for me to actually be out with someone special on the day of hearts. My mother would throw a party for 500 people when that happens.

What really gets my goat is that the loneliness I do not feel on other days pops its ugly head every February 14! It’s automatic: 2/14 equals desolation. It’s pathetic and bad for the skin. And what’s all this crap about Valentine’s Day being for everyone? Isn’t there an occasion for everything? Mother’s Day is for mothers, Father’s Day for fathers, Grandparent’s Day for grandparents, Labor Day for laborers and Christmas for everybody. Valentine is for lovers. Those who do not have partners will have to be content with being outside of the loop when couples celebrate. That’s life, singles! Live with it.

On this day, people like me usually go out with friends who are similarly jaded. Misers love to keep each other company. The bond becomes stronger when they experience collective envy at the sight of couples happily chatting away on the next table. They tell sob stories of their drab, disastrous or even fatal brushes with the L word and take pride in the way they cope with rejection and heartbreak.

This is the day when the dateless, the lonely and the swingers gather together to bitch about or exult the virtues of being single. They do it with several rounds of drinks and lively conversation peppered with laughter and tears. This is the only day of the year when solitude is brought to the fore side by side with togetherness. This is the only time when those who are alone trash or celebrate being solitary in the same manner as couples celebrate their union. The difference is my crowd won’t have to spend extra bucks on a motel room after dinner.

As the night wears on, all of us will realize that we are commemorating one occasion in different ways with different feelings. We will come to terms with the fact that sadness and joy are two parts of a whole entity called love and that one cannot be without the other.