On Love

Valentine's Day just keeps getting sadder and sadder, as industry cycles back in on itself and regurgitates a slightly adapted version of last season's commodities in light of cultural trends.

Example: this is a wooden box with a cute saying on it. People seem to like these, and display them about their homes. Seasonal boxes can be swapped out, and are a great product in so far as they are cheap to make and unlikely to be reused when next year's fad comes along.

This particular one borrows its quote from the Stephen Still song of the same name, "Love the One You're With."

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Alright, I'll grant the notion that loving the one you are with is an invocation to appreciate every day the person you have chosen to be with, and that's a fair sentiment to invoke.

However, the full line is

And if you can't be
With the one you love,
Honey, love the one you're with.

Stills is saying to be kind and loving, or at it's most literal copulous, with whomever you happen to be because you're not with the person you really want to be.

This is a song about settling for Number 2 and making the most of it. How awful is that? Just what every guy wants to hear: "Well, you're not Patrick Dempsey, but I think I can make do.

Man, fuck that and fuck Patrick Dempsey. Using this line for Valentine's Day is akin to politicians including the Reagan campaign trying to use "Born in the USA" during the 1984 presidential election.

Squares just don't get it.