GET EDUCATION, BE ENTERTAINED: And then there was Valentine’s

DAR ES SALAAM: VALENTINE’S DAY – A long time ago in Italy, the population was not as much. Elders sat and scratched their heads and decided that at that rate, Rome will have very lonely people and life will be dull. So, they decided to start a project in form of a festival- pairing men and women, specifically dedicated to fertility and purification –i.e., multiply the population but also ensuring those being born have good genes.

It was a pagan festival and did not sit well with the Christian tradition. After some time a Saint called Valentine started a project to secretly marry young couples who were in love, not forced to be paired like the pagan project. Unfortunately, this was against the emperor of Rome at that time and Saint Valentine was imprisoned for a long time and he eventually died in jail. However, his legacy lived on and eventually gave birth to a Valentine’s Day associated with true romance. And hence the word “VALENTINE.”

Valentine’s day arrives in Africa – Days passed quickly and Valentine’s Day trickled down to other parts of the world including Africa. As soon as it is February, men who are in romantic relationships are often reminded in so many ways – either by the ladies that they’re dating or by commercial entities hoping to boost sales for their businesses – that Valentine’s Day is around the corner.

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It is normally a stressful time for majority of men. As much as it is a good gesture done to express love, men find it uneasy and awkward to be seen in public buying and carrying flowers to deliver to their romantic partners – because African men are not used to PDA – Public Display of Affection however subtle it is made to appear. Hence, a number of things happen on Valentine’s Day, some hilarious, others just a reminder that matters to do with the heart do better in the privacy of the two individuals involved:

Sudden priorities to overide valentine’s day – A man will opt to happily attend to something trivial, even if it is imaginary, just to ignore Valentine’s Day propaganda. If the option involves money making it becomes so much better to justify because money is very scarce these days. The day will pass quietly only for the guy to resurrect the next day with lots of explanations. It means nothing was planned for Valentine’s anyway, so hey, good riddance, and life will continue.

Choosing to forget despite reminders – When a man does something spontaneously, it means he is doing it from his own volition, no push no unnecessary reminders. If Valentine hype is not his thing, he may choose to deliberately forget because he is being pushed. So much is happening in life these days and forgetfulness is an easy excuse, whether it is intentional or not.

Meaning of valentine’s day not convincing enough – Some men believe that love should be expressed every day. To these men, struggling with roses to show love for one day and forget about it the next day does not make sense. And then, who is this guy called Valentine that women believe in so much? These ones will not even try to lie about it. They just behave truthfully like themselves!

Rushed deliveries drama: To some men, it is a matter of following the crowd – do what other men are doing. Things are rushed, wrong addresses are given to the delivery people and wrong people get the right roses. The right lady who has been waiting the whole day gets annoyed only to discover that roses meant for her went to the wrong person. The man will have to explain himself thoroughly.

Another stress. Conclusion: To young ladies, I hope this article gives you a glimpse of what a guy may be thinking on Valentine’s Day. Understanding your man better strengthens your relationship. It is important to note that individuals have different ways of expressing love. Hence, if he does not give you flowers or buy you a gift and he truly loves you – he will do something else – and it does not have to be done on Valentine’s Day. In addition, Valentine’s Day has now extended to express love to family members and friends too. This will lessen the attention on romantic relationships to include family and community as a whole.