Whether you have a significant lover or not, Valentine’s Day is considered as big a deal as any other holiday.

But is it really all it’s cracked up to be?

In 2016, total U.S spending for this day of love reached $19.7 billion. If that’s too much pressure, then you might consider just getting flowers for your loved one. But the cost of flowers bought throughout the U.S was estimated to be $146.84 per purchase.

Valentine’s Day definitely isn’t an easy day and with all the pressure to buy gifts, it’s almost worse than Christmas.

At least Christmas has a deeper meaning of love and family. Valentine’s Day, however, has become consumer driven and only benefits big companies.

On the beneficial side, lots of couples get engaged on this day or get married. And while this day provides happiness and love, it also provides meaningless messages and pressure.

Pressure to get gifts. Pressure to buy gifts. And most noteworthy, pressure to find a date.

Not having a date on a day centered around dating can be considered humiliating. And if you’re single, you feel left out of all the festivities going on.

Most singles stay indoors and try to avoid all the mushy and gross affection occurring outside.

The real holiday, both in my opinion, and the opinion of many singles, is Feb. 15. All the candy not sold the day before is sold on this day and sold at a knockdown price. It’s the day that you can buy candy for 70 percent off, 80 percent off, and even 90 percent off.

However, not everyone buys all the candy that’s being sold for these two days. So the numerous bags sit on the shelves until the expiration date and if they still haven’t been sold, are thrown away.

It’s an incredible waste that happens during this treacherous week and while candy sales are still climbing to higher rates, there is still candy being thrown away.

It is both an environmental problem and an ethical problem.

What kind of monster do you have to be to throw away candy?

So the question posed is this; is Valentine’s Day even worth keeping around? Regardless of the myths and stories surrounding this holiday, it’s become a consumer driven and profit driven day for the purpose of making even more money than these companies are already getting.

It’s not about love for each other anymore. It’s about the love for gifts and clichés.