Happy Valentines!

I’m sure everyone knows that celebrating Valentines in the Kingdom of the Sands is a taboo. In fact, when you’re caught wearing red or carrying flowers on Valentine’s Day, you’ll probably be slapped or end up in jail. Those who are not in the Arab world may wonder how we celebrate our valentines. We’ll we Filipinos have our ways of getting away with restrictions. As they say, ‘laging lulusot ang pinoy’. Just like in the rest of the world, only those who have partners celebrate their valentines. What’s the use if you’re ‘Bingkong’? Ahhh … alam ko na, bingkongs like me celebrate the day with ourselves.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me but I really don’t want a commitment. At the moment, I just felt that I’m too sick to be into a relationship. The medication that I’m taking would consume all my energy that I’m always exhausted before the day ends. I don’t want to call myself stupid because there’s a person who offered to start a relationship with me but I refused. I wasn’t really interested, for now at least. I guess it’s not the right time but believe me, I have no regrets.

Can we be happy without a valentines date? We can I guess? In the Kingdom of the Sands, time flies so fast that you can barely notice anything. Valentines, like the Christmas and New Year are treated like ordinary days. The absence of commercialism on the occasion makes it all more forgettable. If you’re a person like me, who’s still single and without a partner, you’ll probably wouldn’t even think of the significance of the day. But yes, we can still be happy, with or without a valentine date.

The first thing that I would probably do tomorrow is to call my Mother and my siblings to greet them. I would also call Heart, my 8 year old niece to greet her happy birthday. I will still report to the office and go on with my daily routine. I will probably receive tons and tons of emails containing Valentine’s Day greetings. If I’m in the mood, I’ll probably reply. Being single will not stop me from enjoying the day because I still believe that happiness comes from within us all. We decide to be happy for us to be happy on Valentine’s Day. Sa mga bingkong na katulad ko, Happy Valentines.