Who’s Afraid Of VD?

Yes, I will admit there was a time when I felt bitter at the couples who would look forward to Valentine’s Day. That was back in the mid-90s; burnt out by the rat race, I resigned from the ad agency and went back to my first love, theater. I was doing one production after the next with the college theater group I grew up with, and I was surrounded by college kids and their raging hormones. (Sadly) I wasn’t savvy enough to take advantage of those hormones at that time; I was just happy to be seen as a “kuya” to them. (Yeah, yeah, so sue me.) They would seek my advice when it came to love problems. And boy, were they always in love.

I remember one time we were all backstage, and Valentine’s was fast approaching. We had a couple of pretty single ladies who were putting up a brave front, trying to remain unaffected by the the fact that they had no dates on that date. But they were no match for those who were planning--and broadcasting their plans!--for Feb. 14. So one day they decided that, since they had no dates for Valentine’s, they’d have a ladies’ night instead.

Excited, they invited me to join them for that night. I immediately saw an opportunity; within the theater group, the singles far outnumbered the couples. Why not have all the singles go out and have a party of our own on Feb. 14? And to further drum up excitement, we decided to name it the Indians VD Party. (Why Indians? We came up with a code, calling couples “Cowboys” and singles--or individuals--as “Indians.” Silly stuff, really.)

We decided to spend the night at Shakey’s, where we could order heart-shaped pizzas then wolf them down. The first Indians VD Party had around 20+ participants; as an alumnus and (supposedly) part of the work force, I volunteered to foot a portion of the total bill (the moderator paid for the other portion).

So it became this yearly tradition, this Indians Party. The Cowboys got wind of how much fun the Indians were having, and in the following years some of the Cowboys would change their VD plans and join the Indians instead. After several years the Indians realized that the lines had blurred too much. And a few years ago they halted the tradition.

Ever since the first Indians VD Party, I never dreaded the red-letter date ever again. I would dread the stressful traffic, the silly heart-shaped pizzas and the full restaurants. But I’ve always had wonderful dates during Feb. 14; if the evening’s not spent with my rowdy and funny friends, then I’d have an indulgent date with myself. I make it a point that the day is filled with love.

But ironically this year is the first VD that I’m kinda stressing out a bit. Good lord, the expectations! Hahaha. Oh well.

I. Won’t. Feel. Any. Prey-shyure. Rayt. Naw.