the watch of time

In less than one week another of those often pressure-packed, gift giving days arrives: February 14^th, AKA Valentine’s Day.

I can recall as a child in elementary school filling out sweet and simple cards to be given to classmates.  Starting even at such a young age, the message sinks in: this is a day to try to treat at least one other person in a special way.  Of course, as one gets older, effort and expense become more integral parts of the equation.

While an unofficial holiday of sorts for many, in terms of time spent at some point during the day, not everyone will feel motivated to treat this as a special occasion.  Particularly, those living alone will, justifiably, exhibit a wide range of inattention or involvement.  Those of us with some variation of a ‘significant other’ will likely be committed to action, although this can translate to quite a spectrum.

Furthermore, like all aspects of modern life, there’s an ever-expanding kaleidoscope of manner in which to recognize any special occasions.  Some options are more subtle or refined than others.

Let’s consider some practical gifts to bask in the glow of Valentine’s Day, 2019:

• Mini-telescopes, to be warned of first-hand conditions of sidewalks and other pedestrian thoroughfares
• More fit-to-size pockets, to put omnipresent mobile devices out of sight, albeit ever so temporarily
• Artificial flowers with switches, to change the shapes and colours to the recipient’s preferences
• Elegant appearing candies with dark chocolate coatings and inedible, collectible fillings, to satisfy both passions
• Gas station cards with incrementally adjustable amounts, to cover swings in gasoline prices   
• A mobile device for historians, to record the exteriors and home pages of devices the recipient has had over the last decade
• Mini-facial expression masks, which can be applied to the face replacing the effort of displaying actual physical reactions
• An invisible shield, which can be secretly draped over one’s body in tight crowd situations to avoid direct contact with others’ germs or prying fingers
• An update version of the ‘cone of silence’, so that one can get away for awhile from all except one other person
• A mini-garbage compressor one can carry, to get rid of those bits which accumulate when not around a waste bin

After all, this should be time for giving someone a gift with memories lasting beyond the end of the day.