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FROM the corner of my eye, I catch sight of a single red rose. The green-stemmed beauty towers proudly erect, grounded in a vase on my colleague's desk.

Its deep red, glowing petals resemble a hot, open flame and serve as constant reminder of the imminent danger that is to come.

At the risk of sounding like the Grinch who stole, well, Valentine's Day, one thing's for sure: I will probably be seeing red on Thursday.

Aah yes. Valentine's Day.

I dare not lie; traditionally 14 February comes bearing relatively depressing memories for me. These memories are of my friends and I as teenagers, reluctantly unwrapping smiley-faced, heart-shaped notebooks given to us our mothers, who took pity on our young, boyfriendless souls.

While the gesture was sweet, there's just nothing as depressing as unwrapping a Valentine's Day gift from your mother, right?

Thankfully, while things have become somewhat better for our love lives over the years, I can't say my view of the St Valentine craze has improved much.

I still think the whole idea is a little bit cheesy and overdone. I mean, blinding red hearts on boxers and briefs and tangas? Heart-shaped candy cane sticks with furry white teddy bears holding on to silky red engraved hearts for dear life? All wrapped in tacky cellophane paper while everyone walks about in oversized red T-shirts and white pedal pushers? It just seems a bit too much to bear for one day.

And, for the record, my irritation and annoyance has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that this year I don?t have a Valentine to share all this frivelous hype with.

Mind you, to my surprise I've found others who think along the same lines as I do. That can only mean the chances are great of there being others out there, maybe reading this column, having that lightbulb momment where they relate exactly to what I am saying.

These poor souls shouldn't fear, and they should know that there are viable alternatives.

During the early days of January, my buddies and I vowed to get our own back this year ? even if only because we?re bruised by the fact that Cupid didn't seem to find much favour with us.

Admittedly, ex-boyfriends hardly count as decent Valentine's Day dates. So we decided if any or all of us happen to find ourselves lonesome on the so-called Day of Love, we'd opt to get all dressed up and hook up at a local water hole where we plan to celebrate our singleness. Okay, it might not quite measure up to a romantic dinner for two... but at least we'll be with people we love. Well, not in THAT way, of course!

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