Going for the best Valentine's Day EVER

By Julia Allison | Special to amNewYork

February 5, 2007

No holiday so polarizes the American public quite like Valentine's Day.

Arousing both derision and delight (sometimes simultaneously), we can't quite figure out whether we love or hate it. Is it a sweet chance to celebrate romance or yet another occasion designed to pressure anxious men, bolstering Hallmark's bottom line?

"It's pointless," says Sean, 25, "because there's an inherent need to be the best at gift giving. Either you're trying to beat what the last dude gave her, or you're trying to top yourself from last year."

Not to mention, he adds, "it's always an uphill battle. You can't give her a diamond ring one year and a teddy bear from Duane Reade the next. You have to top the diamond ring!"

Hmm. Beating, topping, being better at -- why is it men always make everything into a competition?

Or maybe that¹s the right way to look at it. In the wake of the Super Bowl, perhaps men would enjoy Valentine's Day more if they made it into a competitive sport.

To that end, men, listen up: think of this year as the First Annual Best Valentine's Day EVER Contest.

Need some suggestions? I asked a few hundred readers about their 'best ever' Valentine's Day gifts, and here's what they said:

"The best gift ever? Being driven to an airport and you don't know where you're going, packing the bare essentials with just one hint of where you¹re headed," says Mike Errico, editor in chief of Blender.com.

I second Mike on this one -- and I promise she won't care where she's going, as long as it's warm, sunny, and paid for.

Other Best Gifts Ever?

One guy gave his girlfriend a pair of love birds ('obviously with the cage!'). Other men cited slightly more unconventional gifts as their favorites.

"Stacks of 85% cocoa chocolate," "ice cream," "a plastic cricket in an applesauce jar," "home baked gingerbread man," "a subscription to Maxim," and "Tweety Bird balloon and a basket of sugar cookies."

And yes, I got the inevitable male favorite response: "sex" (and various permutations on it), but to counter that, at least one fellow answered that the best gift he had ever given or received was "love."

Aww. See? It doesn't take that much to make a woman swoon.

In fact, Judith, 66, says she still remembers the Valentine's Day when her then-boyfriend, out of town for the holiday, told her to go read Rupert Brooke¹s poem 'The Great Lover.'

"So I go off to the library chanting, 'He loves me! He loves me!'" she says.

"Some 45 years later it can still knock my socks off."

It may not be that hard to win the competition for Best Valentine's Day Gift Ever after all.

Julia just hopes someone besides her grandmother sends her a card. Dare she hope for flowers? Email her at Julia@JuliaAllison.com.