If there's one holiday that was created blatantly for the sole purpose of boosting Hallmark sales, it's Sweetest Day.
This holiday actually originated in Cleveland in 1922, when candy company employee Herbert Birch Kingston began giving candy to the underprivileged, according to the Web site http://www.theromantic.com.
Well, Herbert might have had good intentions, but Hallmark has taken over.
Apparently, Ohio is actually the top-ranked state in terms of celebrating Sweetest Day, according to the Web site.
How embarrassing. As a Cleveland-area native I have to ask: how many more useless things is that city going to become known for?
The first time I even heard of this holiday was in sixth grade when the guy I liked called to wish me a Happy Sweetest Day. My response: What the hell are you talking about? Er ... ah ... you too.
OK, so maybe I think it's dumb because immediately after that weekend the guy dumped me in the middle of the cafeteria, but seriously, I'm not bitter. Gotta love middle school.
After that year, without my permission, I was aware of Sweetest Day and all of the fake hype surrounding it. Although it may have originated with good intentions, it has obviously evolved into fall's version of Valentine's Day but with no religious or significant history behind it. Even if Mr. Kingston had good intentions, you can't ignore the fact that he worked for a candy company.
One of my guy friends is convinced that Sweetest Day was created to boost slumping flower sales between Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. It's a holiday created by women for women
he said.
Even if you are aware of the historical intentions of this holiday -which you probably weren't before reading this column -then you have to admit that it's just another Americanized holiday. We've already taken traditional days of religious celebration like Christmas, Easter and Halloween and turned them into commercial money-making days. So now Sweetest Day is just another one of those -except it's so lame.
So, happy couples, don't buy into this fake holiday, and don't freak out if your significant other bursts into tears when you don't present them with a basketful of Sweetest Day paraphernalia from Cross Court. Instead try this line: Oh honey, you're my sweetie every day; why should we celebrate it when everyone else is?
-Alyssa Mitchell is The Post's Copy Chief and plans on spending Sweetest Day like every
other Saturday -hungover. Send her an
e-mail at alyssa.mitchell@ohiou.edu. 17
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Alyssa Mitchell
