A holiday of love and appreciation lies just around the corner: Valentine’s Day.
What is the perfect gift to show how much you care for that person? Are flowers too simple? Is jewelry too complicated? Almost every person in the country buys something Valentine-related during the week before the holiday.
Over $9.5 billion is spent annually on unwanted gifts that will likely end up in the trash the following day. Societal and cultural expectations can put unnecessary pressure on people in relationships or even friendships.
So, the debate arises about whether getting your significant other flashy gifts on Valentine’s Day is necessary. Or can love and appreciation be shown in a more conservative, budget-friendly way?
Valentine’s Day is a $23.9 billion industry and racks in countless amounts of money by selling low-quality, cheap production gifts like chocolate, flowers and cards. With low production costs and high profits, the businesses producing Valentine’s-themed gifts have extremely high revenue. This leads to the controversial debate over whether or not these gifts are worth their high price.
Some say that buying these gifts for significant others is not the only way to show appreciation during the Valentine’s season.
“You can tell someone you love them or do things like I can help you with things,” freshman Brittany Williams said.
She emphasizes that genuine appreciation for a person should be repeated throughout the year. While everyone wants to feel special occasionally, consistency may be the better option for saving money.
“It shows you care for them, even your friends. It shows your appreciation for them,” Amanda Olson said.
Significant extravagant gifts being given to sweep people off their feet can be the perfect way to make someone feel special. By putting money towards something substantial to the other person, significant others can show how much they care for them.
There also needs to be more clarity about what gift to get for someone. There will always be grander and more expensive gifts, but there could also be more meaningful and personal gifts.
What do you get someone after a week? What do you call someone when you have been married for years?
Strangely enough, the difficulty in choosing gifts only goes away with time. It can be hard to sum up just how much someone means to you in one gift.
Should America be turning away from Valentine’s Day gifts? Or should we opt for less expensive gifts, such as handwritten letters, flowers, or even handmade gifts? Perhaps the gift-giving culture is perfect the way it is, and spending money is how we should show appreciation.
