Something Fishy on Valentine’s Day
Every year Valentine’s Day takes me by surprise. Adding to my troubles, I don’t know much about romance. For a long time I thought French kissing was to kiss during a rainbow. My wife and I don’t really celebrate the Hallmark holidays, but each year I feel obligated to try to do some small thing I haven’t done before. I am out of ideas. I have bought every variety of chocolate, stuffed animals, handmade cards and bakery item I could ever think of over the years. Last year I was apparently thinking too hard when I gave my wife a Valentine’s Day fish. I had gently stapled a cute red ribbon around its neck. it was very presentable. The intention was to make a wonderful BBQ dinner. I hadn’t thought of the impact of that gift as a visual or its smell.
Seeking inspiration for this year, I came across some interesting Valentine’s Day statistics.
85% — Of men and women say sex is an important part of Valentine’s Day.
$130.97 — The per person average estimate that people will spend on Valentine’s Day.
224 million –– The estimated number of roses grown for Valentine’s Day.
51% — Of people buy red roses for this holiday.
64% — Of men buy flowers for Valentine’s Day.
36% — Of women buy flowers for Valentine’s Day.
$18.6 billion – Spending on Valentine’s Day.
$1.6 billion — The amount spent on candy.
$1.9 billion — The amount spent for flowers.
$4.4 billion – What some spend on diamonds, gold and silver.
March 14 — The day men give women romantic gifts in South Korea and Japan.
$4.52 — The average amount pet owners spent on their pets on Valentine’s Day.
40.7% — Of people who will use their smartphone to purchase Valentine’s gifts.
6 million — The number of people who expect or are planning a marriage proposal.
29% — Of people will type a romantic text message.
145 million — The number of Valentine’s cards purchased.
151 million — The number of cards exchanged on Valentine’s Day.
1,400 — Varieties of Hallmark’s available Valentine’s greeting cards.
This year I was thinking to give my wife a copy of the Laguna Beach Independent with this story in it. Shows I am romantic, right?
Happy Valentine’s Day to my wife Kathy. There are lots of ways to use mellifluous words, but I’ll keep it simple. I love you.
Roderick Reed owns REEDesign Interiors in Laguna Beach. He lives in town with his wife Kathy and two sons Mason and Jack. http://roderickreed.com/.
This is our boy, a man who knows and appreciates the lovely lady wife mother friend he has on his arms. This my man won you admiration from many who read and say wow. God bless you.
[…] Roderick Reed’s The Slant column, “Something Fishy on Valentine’s Day,” took third place in the same […]