The Anti-Valentine's Day - 否请人节

In times of financial melt-down and global depression, holiday seasons have become humble in the name of saving money and being sensible. Naturally, one of our first holiday casualties of 2009 has become Valentine's Day. Just look at the Guardian's "Don't break hearts or the bank" suggestions to realize times are changing. People who know me will know my revulsion and lackluster passive stance to Valentine's Day and all that it stands for, in (most) years past. This, not helped by my absolute ignorance of shopping or simple gestures to please women or, for that matter, lack of women to please ("Awwwwww", say my grocery market checkout girls when they realized I'm single, but buying enough food to eat like a pig).

Interestingly, for me, I get to notice this whole subculture of backlash against Valentine's Day for single people, who display their disaffection to the date that celebrates happy couples, by celebrating being unhappily free but sexual. Probably the best example is: "Eco Age's Anti-Valentine's Party" in London and the"Anti-Valentine's Day After Work Party" in Philly, all designed for singles to pull or "pick-up" as locals call it, in an attempt to not feel left out. Anti-Valentine's Day (as I googled it) is all over the place, in every city, in every underground bar - the first rule of Anti-V Club is to not talk about the club, the second rule of Anti-V Club is to not talk about it - like Fight Club. Not that I have the car to go into town to join them in the evening, or the time to do so this year.

The point is, as the economy slumps, jobs are bled and homes are lost, we can expect to see a lot more couple break ups, marriage break ups and family tear ups than in the glory days of the money boom. This adds to a potential surge in the number of single people celebrating "Anti-Valentine's Day" desperately seeking second chance lovers - however old they are, however stable they thought they were. Boom and bust economics determines boom and bust love. Fact.

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This week, Lost in Americana is finally picking up some pace at work, in the lab, since his animals have come in and are now being sacrificed on a regular basis to please the Gods, which will in turn save the dying economy. Well, not quite. He also gets an American Borders books reward card and can now begin to add another collection of popular science philosophy / social science / non-fiction (you boring geek!) books to his collection that he promptly threw away when leaving the UK. With all that spare time still looming around in the evenings after work he still has time to keep blogging and read casual books. What happened to afterschool happy hours? Oh yeah, that's right - he still can't drive there to attend them!