Valentine’s Day began as a celebration of one of the three martyred saints named Valentine and has since evolved into a commercial holiday for showing love for partners, friends, and family.

A holiday that started out with good intentions has become a cash grab for card companies and an empty gesture.

It’s no secret that one of the main goals of Valentine’s Day is making money. Card, chocolate, flower, and jewelry companies all make an absurd amount of money from one day a year. According to Entrepreneur.com, there was $19.7 billion in Valentine’s Day sales in 2016. Stores all across the nation advertise being open early Feb. 14 for last minute shoppers to get cheap gifts. This holiday has become too focused on the material aspects and strayed from its original purpose.

Valentine’s Day often has far too much riding on it for a single holiday. It perpetuates the idea that people need to be in a relationship. Although being in a relationship can be a wonderful thing, people tend to get desperate around this holiday to have someone to share it with.  For people in a relationship, it puts too much pressure on having extravagant gestures to symbolize how much they care instead of always putting effort into their relationship.

Gifts, surprises, and dates with significant others always seem to mean more on random days. Those in a relationship should love and appreciate their partner every day, not just on this specified day.

Valentine’s Day has evolved into a near meaningless holiday, and less emphasis should be put on it to put less pressure on everyone, whether in a relationship or single.