Sibongile Ndiweni, Sunday Life Reporter
LOVE is a verb. It is a doing word and the month of February is the month of love, a month when the words “I Love You” are just not enough to express love but rather having to be accompanied by something material or some memorable events so that they become more valuable and meaningful.
It’s a month when lovers get the opportunity to boast to their friends about what their lover would have gotten for them as an appreciation of them being a part of their life. It is also that time of the year when the ladies are all lovey-dovey with their partners as they create room to be gifted on Valentine’s Day.
Talk about the dinner dates that are already being booked in advance for the day at different lodges and hotels around the city, the fancy outfits being advertised by boutiques and giant teddy bears that are already displayed by the windows of shops all around the Central Business District.
Dinner dates
It’s all in the colour red that is symbolic of the love that is in the air and that signposts to the nearing of Valentine’s Day – a day that everyone who is in love looks forward to, a day dedicated for lovers to shower each other with gifts, a day of showing love and not just saying it.
Food outlets have not been spared in the Valentine’s Day frenzy as they have already put their customers in the Valentine’s mood as they try to capitalise on the day and make money. It’s all in the presentation of their packaging with a Valentine’s message that even those who pretend not to care about the day would get to remember that indeed it is that time of the year again.
In an interview with Sunday Life, Francis Zendegwa, a manager at a gift shop in Bulawayo said they have set a table outside their shop with some of their products to help inform their clients on products that they have put on promotion.
“The table set outside has most of our products which are on Valentine’s promotion and we have done this to also accommodate the young people who don’t have much yet but have the desire to spoil their so-called girlfriends. And since we are a gift shop, we continue to sell our products even after Valentine’s Day to keep the fire burning for the lovers,” he said.
The belief about Valentine’s Day is that as long as it’s not a leap year, it’s the men who buy gifts for the ladies and since this year is not a leap year, the men will yet again spoil their lovers to show love and appreciation of who they are in their lives.
However, this is not to say the ladies should just open their eyes in expectation, some say they need no leap year to also spoil their men but rather they will also do the buying to appreciate their men.