The 31/2 ft long cards with heart shaped symbols all over them, and expensive looking necklaces, used to inform me that Valentine’s Day was a few days away. As if the countdown calendar and the wish lists hanging in dorm rooms were not sufficient for me. And when the day would arrive, cars would line up outside my boarding school with guys waiting for their dates. And I would watch teenage girls like me, dressing and acting all grown up. Suddenly, the nerdy girl who would sit behind me in class became the girl next door.

I never seemed to understand the craze behind this day, that’s why I never participated. Then in college, it became a day many guys dreaded. Girls would suddenly find themselves single a week before Valentine’s Day, only for their boyfriends to resurface as soon as it was over. And as I grew up, I saw more people like me, spending Valentine’s Day like any other day. And I started thinking, where did all those eager teenage boys, who wrote poems for their dates, go? Some had even made audiotapes, expressing their love for their girlfriends. Now, many guys couldn’t care less if the day was scrapped out. Could it be that our men have become less romantic and more focused on getting down in the bedroom?

Whatever it is, it seems to me that at the turn of the century, guys have become less attentive to the little things that make a girl feel special. Nowadays, romantic gestures are a luxury. I discovered this after I was hit with reality. I had been treated to a special dinner in a Japanese restaurant, overlooking the sea. It was the kind of restaurant where the chef prepared the food in front of you, on an open fire. By the time dessert had been served, I had already concluded that this had to be a very romantic date. But when the check arrived, my date requested that I pay half the bill! Call me old fashioned, but I believe if a woman has been asked out on a date, her date should treat her to an exceptional, romantic date. She shouldn’t have to go home wondering if a prank been played on her.

Fortunately, there are a few men who still practice the law of romance. But what’s a girl to do with the many men who don’t practice it? My hope is that we are fortunate enough to meet the ones who know what it means to treat a woman right. Here’s hoping for romantic men.