Between hope and fear lies eternal love.<\/p>\n
First the hope. Each February 14, women cross their fingers and hope that their guy won’t be a complete idiot. Roses would be fine. Chocolates too. But the most highly hoped-for Valentine’s gift is a relatively simple one: a card or poem. In a study commissioned by Lindt, three out of four women claimed the thing they’d like most is something – anything! – handwritten from their mate. And sadly, many are disappointed. Only half of all men ever send a note, and many either send it digitally, or plagiarize some other guy’s poem. That results in a lot of disappointed ladies.<\/p>\n
And therein lies the fear. In another study commissioned by dating service It’s Just Lunch, men revealed they don’t hate Valentine’s Day, they fear it. One-third of all men admit to having avoided relationships between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day, out of fear of screwing it up, or taking too big a hit to the wallet.<\/p>\n
No wonder, then, that Valentine’s Day is a watershed moment for romance, a sort of pass\/fail test of men’s ability to overcome their fear and fulfill a woman’s hope. Will they pass? If so, they help drive the interesting statistic that more Viagra is prescribed in the week before V-Day than any other week of the year. Will they fail? If so, they join another interesting, more painful statistic, that divorce filings spike some 40% just before February 14.<\/p>\n