Valentine's Day is devoted to celebrating love. Traditionally, it was the celebration of romantic love. However, many North Americans today give gifts to their children, parents etc. Generally, Valentine's Day is celebrated with the giving of flowers, chocolates and candy, although, I do know of people who have been given diamonds and other jewelry as gifts. Another common practice among North Americans is for couples to go out for dinner. If you've ever tried to go to a nice restaurant on Valentine's Day and you didn't make a reservation, you're usually out of luck. I'm sure it's one of the busiest nights of the year for the restaurant industry. It is also customary for school children to give out valentine cards to the other children in their class. Many children only want to give cards to their friends, but this can leave some children out. For this reason, it is now mandatory in many schools to give a card to every student if you are going to give any at all. In my opinion, this is an excellent idea because nobody gets their feelings hurt.
All in all, Valentine's Day was more fun when I was a child. My mom would give me some chocolate and I would get to give and receive valentine cards from my friends. As an adult, I find it is just another way for retail outlets to make money. Most men that I know don't really want to give or do anything special for their significant other, they only do it because it's expected of them. I think it's more important to do nice things for the people you love on a regular basis, rather than on a specific day that society dictates.
