Rosty SorokaMillennials ruin everything. We hit the street to talk to some millennials at U of A about how they’re ruining Valentine’s day:
Are millennials ruining Valentine’s day?
Hanna
“I don’t think millennials are ruining Valentine’s day, but we might be overdoing it for sure. Valentine’s day has turned into a consumerist day where it’s important to buy unnecessary gifts for people, but at the core it has a good purpose.”
Andrew
“No, millennials treat Valentine’s day just like anybody treats Valentine’s day. Personally Valentine’s day isn’t a big deal for me. There’s not too many girls in engineering.”
Andrian & Natalia
“No, millennials can get super cheesy with stuff, but that’s just how they want to express themselves. I can see how people can get fed up with it. Especially on social media — flaunting their relationship and stuff like that. But you can’t let that bother you.”
“We also need to get back to the basics of calling someone and wishing them a happy Valentine’s day rather than just texting them — things our parents used to do. You shouldn’t do these things to impress other people but do them for yourself.”
Jiwon & Michaela
“I think there’s a lot of expectation to have someone to spend Valentine’s day with, but there’s a lot of people who own it. You’re single but it’s not a huge deal — go with your friends and have a great time. I don’t think millennials are ruining Valentine’s day.”
“One way we’re ruining it is that we don’t buy things for each other anymore. We just spend time at home and we don’t buy chocolate or go out to big events. But who goes out on Valentine’s day anymore? It’s such a ripoff — just go out the following day.”
Jeremy & Lauryn
“I guess there are certain expectations that come along with the commodification that we have nowadays, but I don’t think we’re ruining it. I think we celebrate it in different ways — it’s fine to be single and not do anything.”
Emma & Seth
“I think it depends on what you mean by millennials ruining Valentine’s day. People I work with are in their 30s and they don’t like Valentine’s day at all. So if you don’t like Valentine’s day already or you’re happy to go out with your friends then I don’t think we’ve ruined it.”
Brianne & Paul
“Not necessarily, they’re changing the way that they view it and how they treat it compared to how it was before. St. Valentine came from the Bible and then it got turned it into more of a materialistic thing.”
“I think the idea of cuffing season trivializes Valentine’s day. It used to be a day to express your love for someone, but now people value the idea of having someone rather than the underlying relationship.”
