Before I started my Internet research about Valentine’s Day, I never thought that people had so many controversial opinions about the day.

 St.Valentines’s Day has recently come into our life due to globalization. Being historically a traditional English holiday, at present it is celebrated in almost all the countries of the world – Thailand and China, Ghana and Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and many others. When I was a school student we could hardly think of giving valentines to our classmates. But now ready-made Valentine cards are sold, tips how to celebrate Valentine’s Day are given on TV, Valentine parties are thrown in most night clubs, special discounts are offered in gift shops.

 Personally, I have always had some mixed feelings about St.Valentine’s Day. No doubt, it is a wonderful day with a good chance to open your heart (may be secretly!) to a person or people you love. But aggressive ads and commercial aspect of the holiday take away a great part of romance from it and make it more formal. Moreover, it’s tough for me to accept the fact that we celebrate foreign holiday (needless to say about my great respect to all traditions and cultures and nobody can accuse me of having nationalist  views – perhaps, I just can’t accept such fast mixing of cultures). I felt a bit ashamed of all those ideas that is why I tried to make a little research about what can be "wrong” with the holiday and about other than positive attitudes to the holiday.

In Ghana people say the youth changed the meaning of St Valentine Day, which is supposed to be a period to exchange gifts, to engage in promiscuity.

Unexpectedly, St.Valentine’s Day not only gives birth to new couples but also breaks relationships.  Psychologists have found out that a huge number of couples break up before or on Valentine’s Day because they are afraid of saying the words "I love you” for some reasons – they are not confident in their love, they are not ready, they have a commitment phobia. All expectances connected with the day screw up partners and force them think over the reasons not to keep relationships. And what about annoyance the holiday brings to singles on the day when everything revolves around love? I really feel sorry for them.

 Unfortunately, nature suffers from people’s wish to buy a bunch of red roses for their sweethearts on Valentine’s Day. The greater part of red roses sold on Valentine’s Day is grown in Kenya in the time when growing requires much water from one of the lakes. In a couple of years the lake can easily run dry if farmers don’t stop using its waters thoughtlessly.

 In spite of romantic and good-natured character of the holiday People in many countries protest and fight against celebrating St.Valentines Day in different ways (quite radical, I’d say):

In Poland nationalists oppose St. Valentine’s Day with the posters with the requirement to abandon the foreign tradition of celebrating Saint Valentine’s Day and go back to their roots, i.e. pagan rites.

Official festivities for St. Valentine's Day were banned in the Belgorod region by the local governor, who reportedly said the holiday goes against Russian cultural traditions.

Religious police in Saudi Arabia bans St.Valentine’s Day because of its Christian origin. No items of red color or of a heart shape or reminding of this day can be displayed in shop windows and counters. Even red salesman uniform, candles and music are forbidden in shops, cafes and restaurants. Besides, other Islamic countries criticize the celebration of Valentine’s Day as well.

Valentine’s Day news blocks are filled not only with romantic and exciting headlines about but also weird and bizarre ones.

 By and large, there is nothing wrong in the idea of the holiday devoted to the highest feeling in the world. It is the lack of love and warm relationships that get people stressed and exhausted nowadays. If this day makes them happier and make the life more colorful and meaningful – what can be better? Still, true and sincere love doesn’t depend on holidays, decorations, gifts and seasons. Sincere love, care and warmth of your heart can be the best everyday gift for the people you love – sometimes much better than thorny roses.