Desensitization

    As many of you few readers are aware, February 14th was Valentine's Day. Now, normally I'll poke fun of something or other by criticizing it, but would I do that to Valentine's Day?  Of course I would.  I'm single.  But you see, this time is not so much criticizing as depressing.  I look around me and I see couples everywhere, smiling and holding hands and exchanging frequent "I love you" s, and I am ashamed to live in a land where we just don't care about what we say anymore.  You see, once upon a time in a land far away called The Past, the phrase "I love you" was used very rarely if ever, and it thus meant a great deal.  Now, however, in the age of hyperactivity and perpetual servitude to others, the phrase is tossed around like a hot potato.  As soon as someone says it, you're immediately obliged to return the favor, even if you don't mean it.  Then again, you can't tell if they meant it, so if you mean it and they don't, or vice versa, you're in some trouble there, and you're thrown along the long, winding road to ruination.  And the worst part is, we do it without even thinking.  It doesn't matter anymore.  It's become as important as "Hello" or "Goodbye," and it scares me.  People shouldn't just toss declarations of adulation around like that, because one day, just once, someone might take them seriously...