Love for Sale

Yesterday was about the soft side.

Today is about hard cold cash. 

I was in a jewelry store yesterday, and men were making a mad scramble to get their sweethearts something blingy for today.

Although love should be 24/7/365, Valentine’s Day has become a big deal commercially. here are some fun facts…straight from the heart (well, actually, straight from a Google search).

• Almost $20 billion will be spent this year on Valentine’s gifts and activities (And more than half of women said they would end a relationship if their significant other forgot the holiday.) That’s serious stuff.
• And lots of people are serious about finding a honey to gift with bling. The online dating industry is up to $2.2 billion (although most of the apps are not yet turning a profit).
• Love has nothing to do with it, when you look at the size of the porn industry, which is a whopping $97 billion industry worldwide. Certainly not romantic, but clearly sex sells.

So, whether you choose to celebrate with White Castle (which took reservations this year) or with an imaginary boyfriend, help keep the world economy strong by doing something heartfelt today. Happy Valentine’s Day!

P.S. Confession: I wrote this blog post on February 13th, because blogging on February 14th is decidedly unromantic!

	How millennials are spending on Valentine’s Day.  (And funny messages for the ones with commitment issues.)
	The Victorian equivalent of swiping left — Vinegar Valentines!
	Totally bizarre Valentine’s Gifts.
	The top 50 love songs of all time.