School Tardy Policy Falls Short
Fresh-cut carnations, delectable chocolates, and anonymous notes written in elegant script: Valentine’s Day is a day of giving and receiving love whether it be between friends or sweethearts. Many send carnations and singing valentines to their loved ones, and there is no way to go wrong with a cute bag of sweets or a giant Hershey’s kiss (or a real kiss) to show appreciation to loved ones.
Contrary to the atmosphere of love that surrounds this day today, the legend behind Valentine’s Day is filled more with slaughter and gore than with sappiness. The story started in Rome, 269 A.D., when Emperor Claudius sought to build his dream army to crush his enemies.
However, without a draft, no one wanted to volunteer for war, and the Emperor immediately assumed that it was because his men did not want to leave their wives. Of course, he did the most logical thing that came to mind: he outlawed marriage so that his male subjects, free from the occupation of their wives, would willingly sign up for war and adopt an instinct to kill. Of course the people did not follow this ridiculous new law, and rebelled as society.
Valentine, a young priest, rose to the scene, conducting marriage ceremonies in secret. Before long, he was caught by Claudius’s men and incarcerated. In jail, he fell in love with the prison guard’s daughter; it was this pair of sweethearts that gave a name to the holiday that would bear Valentine’s name two centuries later. On the day he was to be executed, he wrote a letter to his darling, thanking her for loving him in his last days, signed “Love from your Valentine.” And that was how the first Valentine happened to be.
Many AB students adore Valentine’s Day. For girls like Boyeon Chae who found her perfect guy just two weeks before the 14th, it will be extra special. As AB junior Henry Neale says, “Valentine’s Day is the day in the year where you can appreciate how lucky you are to have met that one special person.”
For those who have not found their special someone, the singles still love Valentine’s Day, partly because it marks the start of vacation, and also because it is simply an excuse to have fun, by oneself or with your friends.
Freshman Brooke Hatanaka states, “Valentine’s Day is a time for single women to sit around and appreciate their singleness… and watch love movies.” Sophomore Jenni Ruan supposes that “you really don’t need a guy for Valentine’s Day. I mean, you could have plenty of fun with your friends… and Valentine’s chocolate is yummy.” Even some guys are infatuated with Valentine’s Day. Tony Yu agrees with the sugar, and adds “there’s so much love in the air,” remarking that carnations and singing valentines are “kewl.”
Some use this day to their advantage; to Henry Neale, it is the “one day of the year where you’re allowed to kiss in public and not look weird.” Olivia Gutfreund sees it as “tacky, but cute” and adds that it is a “good way to make people get you stuff.” Friends play pranks on one another by writing anonymous love letters and secret admirers use the veil of a cute heart slip and a carnation to reveal their feelings, if not their identities.
Others share math jokes. This year, sophomore Martin Ma received a heart that read, “Will you be my cardioid?” For those of you who do not know, a cardioid is a math graph that looks like a heart. Free kisses, free stuff, and free math… there is everything to gain and not much to lose on Valentine’s Day.
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