They say all you have to do to find out about someone’s love life is to ask them how they feel about Valentine’s Day. Couples in love will describe it as a magical day. For singles, it feels mostly like solitary confinement with pink streamers everywhere.

Yes, for most of us, Valentine’s Day is the day about love that we love to hate.

For couples Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love and passion. It’s a day when boyfriends and girlfriends exchange candies and kisses, and romance is in the air.

All the while, the rest of us have to watch.

While lovers gorge themselves on delectable chocolates, singles nibble on the stale candy hearts that their grandparents usually gave them. Committed couples extol the virtues of Cupid’s holiday, while cynical singles mock it as a cash cow invented by greeting card companies. And for some, the ‘secret admirer’ turns out to be someone who you wished had remained secret.

Or, perhaps, a boyfriend or girlfriend just wants to be a friend, and decided that the best time to tell you was right after receiving your gift. Real hearts can break just as easily as the candy ones.

Nothing quells that sting of being alone on Valentine’s Day except when the day finally ends.

Or that nagging feeling that it’s always going to be a lonely day.

Or the biting jealousy that gnaws at you when everyone around you seems to have found a companion.

Or the wonderful lump in the gut when someone ahead of you at the store is buying a box of chocolates, while you’re stuck with another TV dinner.

But it’s over now. The hump day of February has passed, and we singles can go back to trying to either forget we’re single or change it. The mad rush to find someone on Valentine’s Day is over, and there is still some time until its ugly step sister Sweetest Day rears its face.

Until then we’re safe from the flood of red and pink hearts, Cupid pin-ups, stuffed animals and couples.

However, Valentine’s Day isn’t all bad. The candy hearts, decorations and cuddly bears certainly stimulate the economy, with over $14 billion spent on it this year.

And for those who have found that special someone, or at least think they may have, it holds the hope and promise of blossoming love.

It also teaches valuable lessons, like sometimes it’s OK to take candy from strangers.

Or that you shouldn’t try to quit smoking around Valentine’s Day.

But whether a love life is full of triumphs or trials, the rest of life goes on. Being single on Valentine’s Day, after all, isn’t as bad as being single on your honeymoon.

As for now, relax and wait for that somebody who makes everyday feel like a holiday.

As for me, I am glad that I didn’t spend money on Valentine’s Day. More money to spend on St. Patrick’s Day.