Alternatives to Valentine's Day

I'm really trying not to be pessimistic, but there is just no other way around it. Valentine's Day sucks.\nThe pseudo-"day of love" (probably created by some gorgeous model dating another gorgeous model who just wanted an excuse to get another cheesy gift) is unfair, cruel and another reminder of how painful loneliness can be. \nBoyfriend or not, V-day has always been a nightmare for me. Last year I thought I had it made. Because I was dating someone special, I was sure when the big day rolled around for the first time in my existence I would be the one who had flowers waiting with a sweet card reminding me how wonderful I am. \nThen I got dumped two days before the big day. Some celebration, huh? \nEven through high school, when I was rarely single, every time the notorious Feb. 14 loomed ahead, the relationship took a turn for the worse and my man and I would get into a 24-hour fight that happened to last the 24 hours that people call Valentine's Day.\nSo this year, for the first time, I have decided to make Valentine's Day what it should be -- a celebration of the true love of friendship. The love that doesn't get mad when you don't call on time or when freshman year brings on the big freshman 15 and suddenly you aren't the "babe" you used to be. The love that is proud of you when somehow your lips met the lips of some random guy's on the dance floor at Axis right in front of some fraternity brother you didn't even know who lived in the room next to your boyfriend.\nForget the holiday that only those of us lucky enough to be involved in relationships can celebrate. Cheers to the new Valentine's Day, a day of drunken celebration with friends who are willing to share more than a one-night stand. Valentine's Day, if truly a day of love, should be a day of the celebration of the kind of love that makes you want to spend the rest of your life knowing someone and them knowing you, on your good days and your bad.\nIf you are lucky enough to have a local mate, just remember how fortunate you are and realize you should be celebrating more than a box of chocolates and a teddy bear. If you are taken and the relationship is long distance, don't cry or sit at home and watch "Beaches." \nGet your lazy sweatpants-wearing butt off the couch and make it a friends night. Spend the night with the people who will be there no matter what and be happy you have them. Celebrate this love that will pick up the pieces if the relationship with your significant other comes to a halt. \nIf you are single, go to the bars or out someplace that involves members of the opposite sex. All the others who are venturing out without some male or female suctioned to their arm are single, too. \nWho knows, maybe you can make Valentine's Day the day you actually do meet someone worthwhile and my whole theory of hating the day of love will be proven wrong. If not, at least you will have an evening with friends and maybe even a random hook-up or two. And after a few shots or maybe just a game of Sink the Biz, I guarantee you will forget your lonely misery.\nPeople who are single or far away from those they love should put down the remote, turn off the "90210" reruns and spend the night with their friends. Share memories of time well spent and create more memories that will tide you over when lonely days arrive. I expect to see you all out, wearing red of course, arm in arm with the friends who will laugh with you through the day of love and stand beside you for the rest of your life.