Roses are red, violets are blue… what’s the hullabaloo?

This year, couples from all around will celebrate Valentine’s Day as they do most years, buying flowers, chocolates and a fancy dinner on the town, all for their significant other, so they may have one of the most romantic nights of their entire life. Or, couples might just order pizza to their house, get into their pajamas, watch “When Harry Met Sally,” and call it a day. Whichever scenario you may choose, most people don’t consider the following question when planning how to woo their significant other for Valentine’s Day: is it really worth it?

Valentine’s Day this year will fall on a Tuesday, just after the start of the work week. Couples are expected to shell out billions of dollars on this one day alone. Of course, while it’s not always on a Tuesday and can sometimes land on a weekend, the question of how important this holiday is still remains. What’s so different about Feb. 14 every year compared to any of the other 364 days in a year?

First of all, many of us (including me while I’m writing this) rush inside if we are outside in the cold for five seconds. It would be much better to celebrate a day like this when we’re not worried about below freezing temperatures and snow on the ground, but rather, in the summer, when the weather is much nicer, and the sun is out for a longer part of the day.

Second, how much is this day alone going to cost? It’s estimated that Americans are going to spend up to $26 billion this upcoming Valentine’s Day, which is an absurd number for one day of the year. The average American is also expected to spend nearly $200 on this holiday, which doesn’t seem all that bad, but when you account for the people on Valentine’s Day who go all out, the fanciest restaurants in town, fresh roses, boxes of chocolates and for many couples, an engagement ring, the price tag starts to add up, and you’re looking at a lot more than just $200 for a single night. Why not celebrate your relationship on an actually meaningful day, like the anniversary of a first date, a birthday, on a special trip and, well, I think you can see where I’m going with this. There are so many more opportunities to show your affection for your significant other than on what seems to be a mandated holiday you must celebrate every year.

Finally, what about all of your friends that are single? Sure, you who are reading this might be in a committed relationship that’s been going for years, and if that’s the case, then good for you! It’s great to be in a committed relationship with someone you deeply care about. However, not everyone on Valentine’s Day is going to be all that happy, and I’m talking about everyone who is not in a committed relationship.

What Valentine’s Day is going to look like for most people this year is going to work (or in my case, going to class) and when you’re on a break, you look at your phone, and you see all the happy couples who are posting Happy Valentine’s Day and showing off what they’re doing that night. This post will be repeated over and over again throughout the entire day, until you fall asleep while studying for an exam you have the next day, wake up on Feb. 15, and your social media timeline will be back to what it usually looks like. If you’re anything like me, you might be spending Valentine’s Day going to class and then watching Robert De Niro movies to take your mind off everything that went on today.

With all of the money that people are going to spend, the amount of dinner reservations that will be made, the jewelry store workers that will be showing many people diamond rings before Feb. 14, and all of the planning and stress that goes into this holiday, I again must ask to you: is it really worth it? It seems like an awfully big hassle for one day out of the year. Now, if there is an important anniversary, a birthday or something else significant that just happens to fall on Feb. 14, then it would make sense to celebrate it then. Otherwise, it just seems like a mandated holiday everyone blindly partakes in.