Just a few years ago, it used to be a one-day event. Now I hear they have decided to extend it to eight days, with seven days as Rose Day, Propose Day, Chocolate Day, Teddy Day, Promise Day, Kiss Day, and Hug Day respectively, leading onto the ultimate: Valentine’s Day.[break]
If you ever had trouble choosing a gift between a chocolate, a teddy or a ring, well, you’re in luck because now there’s a day for each of those.
But I digress. This piece isn’t about gross commercialism of pop culture. Nor am I here to bash Valentine’s Day just because it’s “popular with the kids these days.” This is about a man’s submission to the powers beyond his control. This is about his struggle to survive in a world which, with each passing day, makes lesser and lesser sense to him. This is about my search for a Valentine’s Day gift.
I don’t remember what I got for her last year. You see, it was the first year of our relationship. It seems the whole year just went by giving gifts. Some to say “I care,” some to say “I love you” and some to say “I’m sorry.” Actually, mostly to say “I’m sorry!”
There was a time when I used to think that higher dimensional calculus was the most difficult thing I had ever faced. Back then, I never had to find gifts for anyone. I’m an engineer; I’m not built for this. And my habit of leaving everything to the very last minute doesn’t help, either. I tried to think of the subtle hints she dropped along the way, as women often do. There were several but all of them meant spending money. As it was against my New Year’s resolution, I skipped plans to buy stuff until I ran out of every other recourse.
By the way, about my New Year’s Resolutions: after several failed resolutions on losing weight, I realized I was so good at holding onto excess weight things that I decided to make holding-onto-my-money this year’s resolution.
I then thought about crafting. Why not build something out of things lying in and around the house? It adds a personal touch to the gift. I hear they value those things. Moreover, it adds more savings to my pocket. I tried to reach into myself looking for engineer’s creativity, and I found engineer’s laziness. Too much work, and did I tell you I waited till the very last minute?!
Something simple, then – how about randomly pinning up few of her pictures on the wall with cutout alphabets forming a sweet romantic message (“I L U” takes the least amount of effort). Oh! But that’s what I did for our anniversary. OK – don’t panic. How about I cook her something? And by cooking, I mean putting week-old, refrigerated raw edible item on a hot pan and heating it until just before it burns completely. I had already done that on her last birthday.
So, exhausted and out of ideas, I had to turn back to Almighty Money. For the past few months, she had repeatedly mentioned “ring” in our several conversations. Now don’t get any ideas. I’m still far away from wedding rings or engagement rings. Far, far away, very far.
But I’ve heard there’s something called a Promise Ring. The way I’ve understood is, if you feel an engagement ring is too much of a commitment, then give her a promise ring, which means “I promise I’ll give you an engagement ring... someday.” What an idea! Ingenious! But I’m such a commitment-phobe that I feel even a promise ring is too much of a commitment.
So I came up with the idea of I-swear ring, meaning “I swear I’ll give you a Promise Ring... someday.” Besides, she loves things beginning with “i” – her iPod, iPhone, iPad and her iDiot boyfriend, to name a few.
So I ordered a ring. It hasn’t arrived yet. But I have a funny feeling that I got her size wrong, which isn’t going to please her one bit. I give up! Anyone has any ideas for an “I’m Sorry” gift?The writer is a computer engineer, but occasionally likes to dabble in music and photography.
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