Get Real Valentine’s Day

All of this Valentine’s Day talk is really starting to irritate me.  I can’t get away from it- horrible Kay Jewelers and Jared commercials.  The escapades on The Bachelor (more on this for viewers at the end).  Watching dumb girls give it up too soon on The Millionaire Matchmaker in hopes that they will get a free ride for the rest of their lives… 

And outside of TV land, I get angry when hearing about dating rough patches a few of my girlfriends are facing (yes, of course it is the guy’s faults haha).  And shocked (yet not shocked) about a conversation I had with my guy friend the other day about whether or not he should take his regular hook-up out for Valentine’s Day even though he never wants to be in a relationship with her…

Jesus people!

I never notice all the focus on fairy tale weddings, proposals and marriages, but this February, I’m noticing it like whoa.  It scares me.  Mostly because I feel that the media makes relationships and marriage out to be some romantic, magical and whimsical perfection which its just never gonna be.

Perhaps all this media fluff is partially responsible for the high level of divorce in our country?  Perhaps we go into relationships having completely unrealistic expectations? Did people (and advertising agencies) not get the memo that the Beaver Cleaver days are long gone?

And for those of us that are in our mid-twenties- I can hear the fear in my peers’ voices about never getting married, never “finding someone” etc.  Why all the pressure?

And for those of you who watch The Bachelor like I do, I can’t leave this post without saying a few things about last night’s episode:

Alli:Kudos to you on leaving The Bachelor in order to continue your career and job at Facebook. You seem to be the most stable, intelligent and confident of all the women this season.  You would have been crazy to stay only for Jake to end up with the winner (if you want to know who wins, check out realitysteve.com).

Gia: I’m so annoyed that you have nothing to say other than how hurt you have been in the past. How are you going to ever move forward and have a future with someone if you can’t stop crying and mulling over all of your past?  No one wants to date OR marry a cry baby.  You’re lucky Alli left on her own, otherwise you’d be gone like the wind this week.

Tenley:You are slightly nuts.  You are the prettiest of the finalists yet you seem to have forgotten that you are not 6 years old anymore.  You can stop talking like a baby, reminiscing over your child hood, fawning over Daddy, and not listening to what Jake says.  You prove my theory of why people get married to a fantasy and get divorced young.  Remember last night when you wanted to make sure Jake wasn’t a Momma’s boy?  Well he said he was, but you were too busy fantasizing about your glass slipper that you didn’t even hear him and you said “perfect!”  Wake up.

This post is a bit random, but I had to see if any of you guys were feeling this way about all the Valentine’s Day hype too.  It is SO annoying even for those of us who are in relationships. 

The one thing I’ve learned this week from both watching tv and talking to my friends, is to listen to what people are saying.  People show you who they are right away.  It’s up to you to listen and take it for what it is. 

I’ve learned this the hard way more than once, and  I’m sure you have too.  Usually once you go through a breakup you realize that they showed you the signs of who they were from day 1.

Thoughts?

Nicole Emerick

Nicole Emerick founded Ms. Career Girl in 2008 to help other ambitious young professional women thrive in a career they love. Ironically, growing MsCareerGirl helped Nicole transition her own career from commercial banker to digital marketer. Today Nicole leads the social media team at a large advertising agency in Chicago. Nicole also served as an adjunct professor at DePaul University where she helped develop the careers of PR, Advertising and Communications students. Tweet with Nicole @_NicoleEmerick.