The focus is on love

Feb 14, 2012 Editorial

Today is supposed to be the day when love beats all. The entire country should be holding out flowers in any form, be they in bouquets or in clusters, to each other. It is the day when red and white would predominate because those colours have become synonymous with the season of love—with Valentine. The flowers of choice would be the red rose. Love will bloom in Guyana.
“Some 210 years ago in 1797, a British publisher issued The Young Man’s Valentine Writer, which contained scores of suggested sentimental verses for the young lover unable to compose his own. Printers had already begun producing a limited number of cards with verses and sketches, called “mechanical valentines,” and a reduction in postal rates in the next century ushered in the less personal but easier practice of mailing Valentines.
“Paper Valentines became so popular in England in the early 19th century that they were assembled in factories. Fancy Valentines were made with real lace and ribbons, with paper lace introduced in the mid-19th century.
“In the UK, just under half of the population spends money on their Valentines and around 1.3 billion pounds are spent yearly on cards, flowers, chocolates and other gifts, with an estimated 25 million cards being sent.” These facts were gleaned from Wikipedia, an electronic encyclopedia.
One may suggest that because Guyana was once a British colony the locals copied the habits of their colonial masters. The same may be true for all the countries that once had close association with the United Kingdom, the United States included. In this manner Valentine’s Day observances might have spread.
Occasions such as Valentine’s Day beg the question about the sincerity of people.  Why must people profess their love for one day only? Just a few days before Valentine’s Day gunmen entered the home of a goldsmith and walked away with a large sum of cash and gold jewellery. If there was any love on that occasion it was love of self.
A few days earlier there were some other unthinkable happenings. A young man killed his brother during an argument. This is the last thing to happen. Family ties are so strong that even when one member is wrong or commits a wrong on an outsider the others reveal their clannish behaviour. It is this love that sends mothers and sisters to lineup outside the prisons where one of their own is confined for some recalcitrant behaviour.
And surely there could not have been a case of familial love when a young woman poisons her entire family but she did so because of her love for an individual. This just goes to show that love can manifest itself in many ways.
A young woman exposes the fact that while she was active with a grown man, although she was below the permissible age for sexual activity, her mother turned a blind eye. When the money stopped coming the mother demonstrated something that is common to all human being, love of self to the detriment of all else.
Suffice it to say that today is the day of the dreamers, mainly women who are already at the lower end of the social ladder. Many are single parents having been used and left alone by the other spouse. These are the vulnerable ones who are likely to place a lot of emphasis on the Valentine’s Day paraphernalia—the chocolates, the rings, the flowers, and of course the dinners or lunch baskets from any suitor who happens to demonstrate kindness at this time.
They will find out that the love exhibited may be only for one day that the remaining days of the year are simply for them to observe the drudgeries of life. But there are those who will enjoy different fortunes. These are the people who seek every opportunity to demonstrate their love for each other. These are the people who would popularize events such as these.
And for the dreamers, life should be a big dream that pilots to the pleasant realities. We see young people decked out in the colours of Valentine’s Day and we recall the joys of life, when love prevailed in every circle. This is the time when we should consider putting an end to domestic violence, particularly spousal abuse.
Regardless of how commercialized the day has become there are lessons for our people—that love should be treasured all year round even though we spend one day to recognize and to pay tribute to it.