Edmonds: How to celebrate Valentine’s Day

McCoy Edmonds, Columnist

Valentine’s Day for many of us is not a day of celebration. Instead, it’s a sordid reminder of the valentines we didn’t get in high school, the lack of current partners or the existence of ex-partners. Valentine’s Day can be a death trap for the single or lonely. But it doesn’t have to be. For me, Valentine’s Day is an awesome holiday. I’ve been in a relationship for a total of two Valentine’s Days and those were my least favorite.

How is this possible? The Valentine’s Days I plan for myself are way better. Those days actually cater to what I want to do since, for me, Valentine’s Day was never about being in love. It was about candy. Seriously. Valentine’s Day is my “treat yourself” day.

When I was younger, my parents would often buy me candy and have a nice dinner. As I got older, I passed out treats to my lovely, lonely friends to see them smile and at night, sat in front of my favorite guilty pleasure of a movie and ate Ben and Jerry’s. Cleveland has even more to offer. Drown yourself in Mitchell’s Homemade Ice Cream this year, specifically the kind with the marshmallow fluff. Try out laser tag and crush the souls of small, annoying children. Go to Nacho Night at Happy Dog. Watch “Finding Dory” on Netflix. Deplete your weekly spending at Presti’s Bakery. Write nice emails to the people in your life that love you. Have the Euro Wafel Bar deliver ice cream covered goodness. Generally, just chill out.

Sure, Valentine’s Day is simply part of the Capitalist machine that looks to make money off of our suffering or off us buying into the expensive traditions, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. Don’t sell yourself short this Valentine’s Day. Hang out with your cool friends. Go see The Lego Batman Movie with your best friend, popcorn. Buy candy or wait until the day after to get it 50 percent off. If your friends are busy, do an epic binge-watch of “Voltron: Legendary Defender” or “Jessica Jones” with your other best friends, Ben and Jerry.

Have fun. Do some things for you. What better day could there be for chilling out and eating sugar? If that doesn’t make you feel loved, it’ll at least keep your mind off the ridiculous social pressure to be tied to a person until you die. There’s more to life than romantic love, and sugar and good movies have a great way of reminding you of that.