Having a significant other is great: You have someone to cuddle, watch horrible movies on Netflix with and bring you soup when you’re sick. There is a chance, however, that you two may be sucked into your own world, leading to some actions that really tick off everyone around you.
There are a few things that annoy those who are not in their most romantic mood on Feb. 14. Here are a few ways for you lovebirds to avoid glaring eyes this Valentine’s Day.
Ben DeRidder and Cait Cottrill hold hands as they walk across Farrand Field. Check out these tips from CUI on how to be a loving, but not annoying, couple. (Ryan Tibbitts/CU Independent)
Matching T-Shirts
They should only appear in photos from a family trip to Disneyland or at your sorority or fraternity. Cupid should have already shot down the person who decided it was a good idea to for significant others to wear matching shirts containing canned phrases like, “Aye he’s mine” and “Aye she’s mine.” If you are going to make it official to the rest of the world, change your relationship status on Facebook or put a ring on it.
Blatant and inconvenient PDA on campus
We are all going to CU to receive an education and become adults, living the dream without our parents. That said, nothing is worse than trying to get to class and being stopped by a couple that can’t seem to pull away from each other like middle-schoolers. Sometimes this is great because that next class is less than enthralling and you can stand to get stuck behind moseying lovers, yet other times there is an exam and the threat of a locked door waiting for you at the other side of campus. Be polite: if you think you may forget your lover’s embrace before the next class, step off the sidewalk and be discreet.
Dramatic gestures
Please: No “pookie wookie” declarations of love. They are not acceptable any other time of the year, and Valentine’s Day is not an exception. Don’t send a poor flower boy searching through CU’s giant campus for the right building and room to give a sweetie his or her bouquet. Not only will classmates be irritated, but that is straight-up mean to the delivery boy. Dramatic gestures should not be executed on campus. Bringing a guitar to serenade is a sweet idea, close to zero people want to hear your avowal of affection. And unless the singer is really talented, hearing a pitchy, out-of-tune voice wailing throughout the campus grounds will more than likely strike anger in the hearts of academic peers.
Status high-jacking
This easy Facebook prank may seem like a funny thing – and I myself am guilty to this – but when done all lovey-dovey, the hilarity dissipates quickly. All of your friends probably know how into each other you are and don’t need to see a status saying how much you love, adore and cherish the person you’re posting for on Feb. 14. Your friends may like that you two are together, but they won’t “Like” it.
If you absolutely cannot resist the urge of writing a status on your boyfriend or girlfriend’s status, at least make it funny.
Play-by-play of your romantic evening
With technology today, it is easy to share every moment. The immediacy of information on social sites has resulted in some abuse of sharing, and this includes commemorating and publishing a romantic endeavor. It’s understandable, as this event is extremely special and you don’t want to ever forget that time that your boyfriend or girlfriend made a five-course meal and surprised you with it at Chautauqua during sunset, but nobody needs to know every moment. Control your urge to post instant updates on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or Vine because not all of your followers or friends will be excited for you, not to mention that it may seem as if you’re rubbing it in singles’ faces on Thursday.
Valentine’s Day history stems from romantic gestures. Saint Valentine wrote to his love from Roman jail, and the valentine happened to be the jailer’s daughter. Another St. Valentine married young couples in secret, when it was forbidden for young men to marry.
However, keep in mind one of the suggested origins of Valentine’s Day is not romantic in the slightest. Valentine’s Day may have originated from Christians trying to convert the pagans and they started celebrating Valentine’s Day during the middle of the pagan’s fertility festival. In this festival, they used blood-soaked goat hide to smack cows and women because it made them more fertile somehow. This is, clearly, not sexy, romantic or sweet.
Valentine’s Day means different things to different people, and on campus there are thousands of those people – do not make them sick with your displays of affection.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Claudia Rebora and Natalie Boyd at Claudia.rebora@colorado.edu and Natalie.boyd@colorado.edu.
