As the beloved third wheel to many relationships, Valentine’s Day is quite busy for me. Texts light up my phone: What should I get her? Do you think he’ll like this? I take my job very seriously for two reasons. First, it’s fun. In high school, I convinced my best friend it would be a good idea to get her boyfriend a Build-a-Bear solely because I wanted an excuse to go to Build-a-Bear. But secondly, and more importantly, I like when the people I love get to feel loved. I may be too broke to buy my best friend a box of Godiva chocolates, but at least I can help her man pick them out and see the smile on her face when she gets them.

Now that the days of elementary school candy exchanges are well behind us, Valentine’s Day seems to only matter if you’re in a relationship. If you’re not, all you have to look forward to is Fun Dip going on sale and maybe a Hallmark card from your grandma. Either way, Valentine’s Day definitely doesn’t have the same appeal it used to.

According to angsty single girls everywhere, Valentine’s Day is overrated and overhyped. According to one single lady on the internet, “Valentine’s Day is for children. Girls use it as an excuse to be entitled and get gifts from their f—boys. It’s like Halloween being an excuse for fat f—s to binge on candy.”

My personal thoughts on Valentine’s Day are a little more complicated. You would think as a single girl that I would hate Valentine’s Day, and yet I honestly don’t. In fact, I think people who do are misdirecting their hate. Valentine’s Day itself isn’t annoying; people are annoying. Think about it: the day itself would be completely fine if it weren’t for the annoying couple making out on the cruiser and the girl holding up the mail services line because her boyfriend sent her a bouquet of roses that she physically does not know how to carry.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with a holiday meant to encourage people to show love to each other. But like most things in life, people take it too far. Couples can’t just post a story, they have to post a 12 picture collage letting everyone know they have the best relationship in the world. Now your Instagram feed is clogged worse than the day after a formal and you’re feeling more conscious of your singleness than you have since the Bachelorette finale.

But it’s not just couples who don’t know where to draw the line. Instagram Influencers have to dress their dogs up in red and pink tutus and use hashtags like #mygalentines and a bunch of other cringe-worthy cliches that really don’t mean anything to anyone. It’s not Valentine’s Day’s fault they are doing it; they would be doing it anyway.

So stop hating Valentine’s Day. February 14th never did anything to hurt you. The idea of Valentine’s Day is great and sweet and awesome but the execution has gone completely awry somewhere down the line. Just buy your chocolates and go. It’s really not that hard.

Contact Kara Schindler at [email protected].